SAN ANTONIO — As soon as Victor Wembanyama announced Friday’s San Antonio Spurs-New York Knicks game opener to teammate Tre Jones, he launched a late-season campaign to present his case as a legitimate candidate to become the first rookie in league history. being named NBA Defensive Player of the Year despite his team’s 18-56 record.
Wembanyama now has the 65 games the NBA deems necessary to be eligible for some of its playoff awards.
Watch out, Rudy Gobert.
San Antonio’s 130-126 overtime win over the Knicks in front of another sellout crowd at Frost Bank Center became an instant classic, thanks to Wembanyama and Knicks guard Jalen Brunson. The 20-year-old Spurs rookie became the youngest player in league history to produce a 40-point, 20-rebound game. Brunson produced a gem of 61 points for the Knicks, the second in their long history.
Even Gregg Popovich, nearing the end of his 28th season on the Spurs bench, can’t remember another combination of comparable excellence.
“He was 60? ” the Hall of Fame coach responded when asked if he had ever seen both a 61-point game and a “40-20” in a single game.
Assured that Brunson had produced 61, Popovich chuckled.
“I don’t think I saw that… I mean, one of those nights,” he said.
Wembanyama did not need his 65th game to qualify for NBA Rookie of the Year honors, an award excluded from the league’s highly controversial requirements.
He should have a place on his mantle reserved for the Wilt Chamberlain ROY honor he will receive after the league begins showcasing playoff hardware. His 40-20 record turned into yet another piece of statistical evidence that made what was once a tight rookie race with Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren a runaway for Wemby.
With eight games remaining, Wemby leads all rookies in scoring (21.0 points per game), rebounds (10.5), steals (1.2), blocks (NBA best 3, 4) and player efficiency (22.9).
Holmgren leads all rookies in shooting percentage, both overall (53.5) and from 3-point range (37.7). He also plays for a team that remains in the race for first place in the Western Conference.
For the first two months of the season, which included the Spurs’ 18-game losing streak, that was enough to convince some media outlets to declare Holmgren the likely winner of this season’s ROY award.
When the 2023 portion of the season gave way to 2024, Wemby’s minutes restriction decreased and his production increased. The Spurs’ 13-29 record since New Year’s Day is nothing to write home about. Still, it should be enough to prove to voters that they should ignore the win differential that fueled the too-early belief that the Thunder rookie was poised to become the top rookie.
Could Wembanyama be unanimous? There have only been five in the history of the prize. Ralph Sampson (1983-84), David Robinson (1989-90), Blake Griffin (2010-11), Damian Lillard (2012-13) and Karl-Anthony Towns (2015-16).
Tim Duncan? Keith Van Horn received three first place votes in 1998, when Duncan was ROY.
Wembanyama’s defensive prowess was paramount in turning this season’s once-competitive race into a rout. His league-leading 223 blocks encompass 21 games with at least five denials. In league history, only four rookies have played more games with five blocks: Manute Bol (43, 1985-86), Robinson (28, 1989-90), Alonzo Mourning (24, 1992-93) and Shaquille O’Neal (23). , also 1992-93).
Wembanyama’s defensive package isn’t limited to being a shot blocker. He also ranks 20th in the league in steals per game, and it’s hard to imagine anyone else leading the league in a category that’s almost impossible to calculate: altered and deterred shots.
Anyone who has watched a few Spurs games has seen what we now call the Wemby effect: opponents significantly alter their shots or delay them, either by dribbling out of reach or passing to a teammate.
Jones saw it from his perspective as the Spurs’ point guard. He believes Wembanyama’s defensive presence is second to none. Even Gobert, the three-time DPOY, is no more of a rim protector than Wemby.
“If you just watch the game, you see how (Wembanyama) affects the game defensively,” Jones said. “It’s tough because of our record, but I think most people know he’s already the best defender in the league. He already leads the league in blocks; leads in combined blocks and steals, more than previous NBA Defensive Player of the Year winners.
“It’s only a matter of time before that’s his reward.”
Even Brunson, whose 61 points were the sixth-highest total in a season that now includes 16 games of 50 or more, felt Wemby’s presence in the paint.
“He’s going to be one of the greatest players this game has seen,” Brunson said. “It’s hard to shoot him.”
Should the Wemby effect make him worthy of voting for DPOY?
“Why not?” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said before his team faced the Spurs on March 19. “The things he does on the defensive end, why wouldn’t he be considered?”
In his pregame conversation with reporters Friday, Knicks defensive coach Tom Thibodeau wasn’t sure how to quantify what Wembanyama brings to the Spurs’ defense with his blocking, but he understood his impact.
“Yeah, I think that’s one of the most important things in the league, its rim protection,” Thibodeau said. “You have to know where it is at all times – the length, the timing, the ability to cover a lot of ground quickly. And over time it will become stronger and stronger.
“You see the plays he plays. You can’t teach that. It’s instinct.
Mature beyond his years, Wembanyama is a realist. He doesn’t believe he’ll win the Hakeem Olajuwon Defensive Player of the Year Award this season because Gobert, his good friend and fellow Frenchman, is averaging 2.1 blocks per game and is one of the team’s best league defenses.
“I know Rudy has a very good chance of winning it this year, and it would be well deserved,” Wembanyama said earlier this month. “Let him win now because then it’s not his turn.”
This is real bravado, but it is backed by evidence. Indeed, Wembanyama’s combined blocks (223) and steals (81), what stat geeks call “shares,” is 304. Last season’s DPOY, Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr ., had 254. Gobert never had more than 263. , (214 blocks and 49 steals) in 2016-17 when he won the first of his DPOY awards.
The Spurs’ defensive rating with Wembanyama on the court is 117.2. When he’s off the field, it’s 123.1. And, over the Spurs’ last 15 games, their defensive rating with Wemby on the court is 106.0, which would rank first in the NBA.
Wembanyama’s strong defensive work in Friday’s victory was overshadowed by the fact that he became the youngest player in NBA history to record a 40-20 game. No rookie had achieved such a feat since Shaquille O’Neal scored 46 and grabbed 21 rebounds for the Orlando Magic on February 6, 1993, 18 days before his 21st birthday.
Wemby won’t turn 21 until January. 4.
So, how many trophies will DPOY Wembanyama win before the end of his career? No player has won more than four, a distinction shared by Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace.
It appears to be another goal that the Spurs superstar rookie can achieve.
(Photo by Isaiah Hartenstein and Victor Wembanyama: Ronald Cortes/Getty Images)