Victor Wembanyama of France named NBA Rookie of the Year

NEW YORK – San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama has won the National Basketball Association (NBA) Rookie of the Year award, the league announced on May 6, marking the first time a Frenchman has captured the honour.

The 20-year-old centre, a 2.24m prodigy who was the top pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, averaged 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, a league-high 3.6 blocked shots and 1.2 steals a game in his impressive debut campaign.

Wembanyama was a unanimous selection, taking all 99 first-place votes, the first unanimous top rookie pick since Karl-Anthony Towns in 2016.

“My goals were always to help my team as best as I could and to get better as the year went on,” he said.

“I knew that in order to do this I had to be individually good on the court and dominant, so it was a huge thing for me, a big thing to get. It has always been really important and I’m glad it’s finally official.”

Chet Holmgren, a centre for the Western Conference top seeds Oklahoma City, was second and the Charlotte Hornets’ Brandon Miller third in the voting.

Under the guidance of Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, Wembanyama became the third San Antonio player to win the award after fellow big men David Robinson in 1990 and Tim Duncan in 1998.

“Wemby” also matched Manute Bol from 1986 as the only rookies to lead the NBA in blocks for a season and said he improved all aspects of his game as the season went along, topping rookies in points, rebounds and blocks.

“Everything pretty much got better,” he added. “What I made big efforts on is the playmaking, shot selection. And also after the minutes restrictions I had, I had to get back into good shape to play more than 30 to 35 minutes. The cardio, I think, I’ve made huge improvements on.

“I’ve never gotten so much better in so few months, so really glad.”

Wembanyama also made it clear his work will not stop in the off-season.

“There’s plenty of stuff I plan to work on,” he said. “Physically the work is never going to be done. I’ve had my plan for months already for all of my body and we’re going to keep discovering new ways to get better and to work on my body.

“For basketball, there’s a lot I want to work on and a lot Pop wants me to work on, so I’m excited.”