The NBA announced this evening that Victor Wembanyama is selected as the 2023-24 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year. The San Antonio Spurs post player received all 99 first-place votes from the media panel for the selection. He is the first unanimous pick since KAT (Karl-Anthony Towns) won the award for the 2015-16 NBA regular Season.
How Many San Antonio Spurs Have Won NBA Rookie of the Year Before?
Since the NBA Rookie of the Year (ROY) Award started being awarded at the end of the 1952-53 season, Wembanyama is the thor San Antonio Spur to win it with the team. He joins other great big men, David Robinson (1989-90) and Tim Duncan (1997-98) winning the award. He is also the first professional player from France to win ROY. Now, when you look at Robinson and Duncan’s rookie campaign numbers, you’ll have to make your own opinion of which of the three big men had the best season. Y
ou could argue that Robinson had the better season between the three players; however, he was also 24 after serving two years in the Navy…so I think it’s probably a bit of a wash. Wemby definitely has the other two beat when it comes to guard-like handles and three-point range. It won’t surprise me to see the Spurs make a decent run in the NBA Playoffs next season.
What were Victor Wembanyama’s Stats for the 2023-24 NBA Season?
So, Wembanyama definitely lived up to his hype during his rookie campaign. He led all rookies in three categories: points (21.14), rebounds (10.6), and blocks (3.6) per game. Wemby was also second in steals (1.2) and fourth in assists (3.9) per game. He also joined elite company with Manute Bol (1985-86) to lead the NBA in blocks per game during a season.
Some other notable “Wemby” stats for this year are: 1 – He’s the first player to have 1,500 points, 700 rebounds, 250 assists, 250 blocks and 100 3-pointers made in a season, 2 – The first player to average at least 20 ppg, 10 rbg, and 3 blocks per game in less than 30 mins/game over a full season. Just imagine what he’s going to do once he’s “settled” into the league. Then, we can expect to start seeing the Spurs look to add on to their total number of NBA Championships.
How Tall is Victor Wembanyama?
So, Victor Wembanyama is officially listed at 7’4” tall. He’s still young too. Victor is only 20 years old, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see him grow more. With handles like a guard, he makes the game look easy at times if you haven’t watched him play. He is also reported to have a wingspan of 8 feet long too.
Victor Wembanyama Highlights
Here’s a really good highlight video of Victor Wembanyama’s rookie year for you to check out too.
