Victor Wembanyama named unanimous Rookie of the Year
07/05/2024 01:03
Wembanyama is the first Spur to win Rookie of the Year since 1998.
When Victor Wembanyama was taken first overall by the San Antonio Spurs, he was immediately mentioned alongside the greats. The basketball world expected him to become the next Spurs big man to dominate the league, just like Tim Duncan and David Robinson did before him. Today, he takes his first step in joining them at the apex of the franchise.
The NBA announced that Victor Wembanyama is the unanimous 2023-24 Kia Rookie of the Year. He becomes the third rookie in Spurs franchise history to win the award, along with Duncan and Robinson. He becomes the first Spur to do so since 1997 when Duncan won the award. He joins the Orlando Magic's Paolo Banchero as the second-straight first-overall-pick to win Rookie of the Year. Before Banchero and Wembanyama, four straight winners were selected with the second pick or lower.
The Spurs rookie beat out the Oklahoma City Thunder's Chet Holmgren and Charlotte Hornets' Brandon Miller for the award. Wembanyama won the award unanimously, securing all 99 first-place votes. Holmgren finished as the runner-up.
Wembanyama averaged 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds 3.9 assists, 3.6 blocks and 1.2 steals per game as the Spurs went 22-60 in his rookie season. Wemby averaged the most points for a Rookie of the Year since Blake Griffin (22.5 ppg) in 2011. He's the first to average a double-double since Karl-Anthony Towns did so in 2016. Wembanyama averaged the most blocks for any winner, beating out Shaquille O'Neal who had 3.5 blocks in his rookie season.
Victor only got better as the season went on. In January, when the Spurs moved Wembanyama to the full-time starting center, the rookie started to put up monster performances almost nightly. Wembanyama was the second rookie to post a 5x5 stat line (Jamaal Tinsley was the first.) He's the first player in league history to reach 1,500 points, 700 rebounds, 250 assists, 250 blocks and 100 3-pointers made in one season.
This isn't the only award Wembanyama could win. On Tuesday the NBA will announce the Defensive Player of the Year award. Wembanyama is a finalist along with Rudy Gobert and Herb Jones. Wembanyama has a chance to be the first rookie to win. If this season was just the beginning of what is to come, Wembanyama will have a large trophy room when it's all said and done.
