One of the top three contenders for the Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year NBA honors for the 2023–24 season is Spurs rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama. For the former, he faces off against Brandon Miller and Chet Holmgren, and for the latter, against Rudy Gobert and Bam Adebayo.
Gobert seems to be the front-runner for Defensive Player of the Year, which shouldn’t be shocking given the number of voters who have cast their ballots and the likelihood that some of them couldn’t support a rookie on a bottom-10 defense. Wemby should be the clear favorite for Rookie of the Year.
Nevertheless, Victor Wembanyama still has the opportunity to leave his mark on history. If he were selected to be on the first-team all-defense, he would be the only rookie ever to make the first team, which is positionless as of this year. Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Manute Bol, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar made the second team during their first seasons.
To win Defensive Player of the Year, an honor that has been given out since the 1982–1983 season, Wembanyama will have to overcome two all-NBA defenders. Bam Adebayo, a center/forward for the Miami Heat, is among the top two-way players in the NBA.
Victor Wembanyama Is a Favorite for Rookie of the Year
Victor Wembanyama was a finalist for the Rookie of the Year award, along with forwards Brandon Miller of the Charlotte Hornets and Chet Holmgren of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
After being selected with the second overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, Holmgren suffered an injury that kept him out of the 2022–23 regular season. However, he started all 82 games during the regular season for the Thunder, who went from being qualified for the NBA Play-In Tournament the previous season to winning the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference in 2023–24.
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According to the NBA website, Wembanyama leads all NBA rookies this season, scoring 21.4 points, rebounding 10.6, blocking (3.6), and stealing (1.2). This season, Wembanyama was recognized three times as the Western Conference Rookie of the Month.
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