San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama entered the NBA with the most hype of any player since LeBron James in 2003. And he’s lived up to every bit of it.
Wembanyama, a 20-year-old center, took home the league’s Rookie of the Year award Monday after he averaged 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 3.6 blocks, 1.8 3-pointers and 1.2 steals a game. No player in NBA history had averaged more than those combined figures before. He is the first player with at least 1,500 points, 700 rebounds, 250 assists, 250 blocks and 100 made 3-pointers in a season.
Wembanyama beat out Chet Holmgren of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Brandon Miller of the Charlotte Hornets for the honor. He received all 99 first-place votes from a media panel to become the first unanimous NBA Rookie of the Year since Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns in 2016.
He joins David Robinson (1990) and Tim Duncan (1998) as the only Spurs players to win the award.
“My goal is always to have my team the best that I could and get better as the year went on,” Wembanyama said on TNT following the announcement. “I knew that in order to do this, I had to be individually good on the court and dominant. It was a huge thing for me and a big thing to get. It’s always been really important, and I’m glad it’s finally official.”
Wembanyama, a 7-foot-4 French native, is also a finalist for NBA Defensive Player of the Year with Rudy Gobert of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat. That award will be announced Tuesday night.