One of the more intriguing award races in the NBA this season was for the Rookie of the Year award. Victor Wembanyama, the No. 1 pick of the San Antonio Spurs in the 2023 NBA Draft, was going to be facing some stiff competition from Chet Holmgren, who was selected No. 2 overall during the 2022 NBA Draft.
But, because Holmgren missed his entire first season in the NBA because of injury, he is considered a rookie during the 2023-24 campaign. At points in the season, it looked to be a neck-and-neck race with Wembanyama and Holmgren separating themselves from the other rookies in the league.
However, it is a race that Wembanyama looks to now be ahead of comfortably. He has put some distance between himself and his peers with his incredible two-way performance despite playing on a Spurs team with one of the worst records in the NBA.
In the opinion of one NBA analyst, the race wasn’t even as close as some people made it out to be. While making an appearance on Run It Back on FanDuel TV, Ryen Russillo revealed that he believes the Rookie of the Year award is Wembanyama’s and being on a better team in the Oklahoma City Thunder shouldn’t factor into the decision.
“I hate rookie of the year being factored in by like ‘oh those games matter more’…Chet’s [Holmgren] role and responsibility on this team is completely different than [Victor] Wembanyama’s, and Victor’s the better player,” Russillo said while speaking to Michelle Beadle, Chandler Parsons and Lou Williams.
Holmgren has had a very good season in his own right. He is averaging 16.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.4 blocks in 29.8 minutes per game. In any other season, those numbers would lead to him being the runaway Rookie of the Year.
But, he had the unfortunate luck of running into Wembanyama, who has not only blown away the production that Holmgren has provided but is producing numbers that NBA greats and Hall of Famers put together.
Wembanyama has set multiple NBA records during his rookie season and achieved statistical combinations no one else has in league history. He is averaging 21.3 points, 10.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.3 steals and 3.6 blocks in only 29.6 minutes per game.
Had the Spurs been a better team, those numbers would have him in the MVP discussion as a dark horse candidate. Only scratching the surface of his potential, it will be interesting to see what Wembanyama has for Year 2 of his NBA career when some of the restrictions on him will be lifted.
More must-reads: