Victor Wembanyama has lived up to expectations in the NBA, and he is without any doubt the Rookie of the Year.
All 99 voters were in agreement. Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs was the best rookie in the NBA this season.
Monday the world’s premier basketball league awarded the prestigious Rookie of the Year title, given to the league’s best first-year player.
“My goal is always to make my team as good as possible, and that we should improve throughout the season,” the 20-year-old Frenchman told American TNT.
“I knew that to succeed, I needed to perform well individually on the court and dominate. So, this recognition is a big deal for me.”
Standing 2.24 meters tall, Wembanyama was hyped as a generational talent when he was drafted first overall by the San Antonio Spurs before the season started. And the towering Frenchman has not disappointed, despite his team’s poor season.
He has averaged 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 3.6 blocks per game. It is 99 sports journalists who had to rank the top five rookies of the season. And all 99 placed Wembanyama at the top of their list.
This is the first time since 2016 that the award has been unanimously given to a player. On that occasion, it was Karl-Anthony Towns who received the prize.
The San Antonio Spurs are in a rebuilding phase, with Wembanyama as the star around whom everything is being built. With only 22 wins in 82 games, the team was far from making the playoffs.
Wembanyama is the first Frenchman ever to receive the award, according to news agency Ritzau.
