Victor Wembanyama has had an incredible rookie season for the San Antonio Spurs, despite his team languishing at the bottom of the Western Conference standings all season. One particular stat, in particular, has been the most outstanding for a player in his rookie season.
Wemby, is leading the league in the number of blocks and is a strong contender for this season’s Defensive Player of the Year. However, he has shown great humility to concede that he’s not the front-runner for the award and instead listed his fellow countryman and Minnesota Timberwolves perennial contender, Rudy Gobert.
Wembanyama humbly admitted that Gobert deserves and should win this year’s DPOY award, his fourth if chosen. In addition to conceding defeat, he dropped a warning message for future contenders. Wemby said when asked in French at the presser:
I know that Rudy (Gobert) has a very good chance of winning it this year, and it would be deserved. Let him win it now because after that it's no longer his turn. Victor Wembanyama said
The T-Wolves center this season is averaging 13.7 PPG, 12.9 RPG, and 2.1 BPG. Although this isn’t his best defensive season performance as compared to his incredible season while he was on the roster of the Utah Jazz, he has led the Wolves alongside potential future face of the NBA, Anthony Edwards to fight for a place among the Western Conference elites this season. Winning this year’s DPOY gong would tie him for the most wins alongside Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace.
Victor Wembanyama’s DPOY chances in the future
Victor Wembanyama has taken the NBA by storm, the last rookie since LeBron James to be hyped in this way, and has shown he can defend as well as he can score. He has been the one bright light in the San Antonio Spurs‘ darkest season, impressing fans and analysts with his all-round performances.
Furthermore, he has displayed that he can be a potential DPOY winner with his standout triple-double with blocks performance. He currently leads the league in blocks (197), while being a rookie. In his rookie season, he averages 20.7 PPG, 10.3 RPG, 3.5 APG, 3.4 BPG, and 1.3 SPG.
The Spurs’ general performance and standing this season somewhat make him an outsider for this season’s DPOY award, which would have been a historic achievement for a rookie if he were to actually win it. But, he still has time on his hands and if his team can find a way to build a strong team around him and translate his performances into wins, because at the end of the day, it’s the wins that matter, then he would be every bookmaker’s favorite for the award for the foreseeable future.
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