Essentially the most hyped NBA rookie since LeBron James lived as much as the hype this season.
Victor Wembanyama was named Rookie of the Yr for the 2023-24 season. The San Antonio Spurs’ No. 1 choose from final summer season’s draft averaged 21.4 factors, 10.6 rebounds and three.9 assists whereas main the NBA in blocks with 3.6 per sport.
That final quantity is why Wembanyama can also be a finalist for Defensive Participant of the Yr, alongside Bam Adebayo and fellow French 7-footer Rudy Gobert.
He’s the primary rookie to guide the league in blocks since Manute Bol within the 1985-86 season, and the three.58 blocks are the very best league-leading complete since Hassan Whiteside in 2015-16 and the third-highest within the final 15 years.
The Spurs heart was probably the most anticipated draft prospects in many years, a lot in order that the NBA streamed the video games of his French group, Metropolitans 92, throughout the 2022-23 season.
Wembanyama began comparatively sluggish, however ramped up his utilization, his minutes and his defensive stats because the season continued, By April, Wembanyama was averaging 25 factors, 12.8 rebounds 6.8 assists and 5.6 blocks.
He completed forward of one other stellar rookie heart, Oklahoma Metropolis’s Chet Holmgren. Holmgren was the No. 2 choose in 2022, however missed the entire following season with an damage. The Thunder heart had 16.5 factors, 7.9 rebounds and a pair of.3 blocks, however all 99 voters nonetheless listed Wembanyama first on their ballots.
OKC additionally had the second-place ROY finisher final season, when Jalen Williams got here in behind Paolo Banchero. No surprise the Thunder bought the No. 1 seed.
What’s scary about Wembanyama’s season is he spent a lot of it on a minutes restriction, having performed properly into June for Metropolitans. Going into an offseason the place Wembanyama has vowed to get stronger and enhance his endurance, this may occasionally simply be the tip of the iceberg for Wemby’s immense expertise.
