Victor Wembanyama named finalist for Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year

Spurs rookie phenom Victor Wembanyama has been named one of the top three finalists for two NBA awards for the 2023-2024 season: Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. His competition for the former is Chet Holmgren and Brandon Miller, and the latter is Rudy Gobert and Bam Adebayo.

While Wemby should be heavily favored for Rookie of the Year, Gobert appears to be the favorite for Defensive Player of the Year, which wouldn’t be surprising given the voters who released their ballots and the fact that some likely couldn’t get their own . to vote for a rookie in a bottom 10 defense. That said, he still has a chance to make some history. Should he be named to the 1st Team All-Defense, which is positionless as of this year, he would be the first rookie ever on the first team. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Hakeem Olajuwon, Manute Bol, David Robinson and Tim Duncan all made the second team in their rookie seasons.

Congratulations, Victor!