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Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama is the 2024 NBA Rookie of the Year

Wembanyama received all 99 first-place votes to unanimously win the award

Victor Wembanyama, the 2023 No. 1 overall draft pick of the San Antonio Spurs, should feature heavily for the France men's basketball team at the Paris Olympics. (Usa Today Sports, Jerome Miron)

It’s officially official. San Antonio Spurs’ rookie Victor Wembanyama was named the 2024 NBA Rookie of the Year during TNT’s pregame show Monday night.

The French phenom, coined ‘alien,’ averaged 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 3.6 blocks per game in his rookie season. San Antonio finished with the fifth-worst record in the league, but Wembanyama’s impact was felt on another level.

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It is a level that gives Spurs fans the belief that improbable wins aren’t so far-fetched and the future is very bright.

Before the start of his rookie campaign, Wembanyama was already the odds-on favorite to win ROY. Around the same time in mid-July, Portland’s Scoot Henderson and OKC’s Chet Holmgren had the next best odds to win the award.

Once the 2023-24 NBA season tipped off, the Rookie of the Year battle between Spurs’ 7-foot-4 French forward/center Wembanyama and OKC’s Minnesota-born big man Holmgren became clear.

The two exchanged massive performances on any given night from late November to late January. The odds fluctuated between both rookies during that period.

However, when Wembanyama’s minute’s restriction was lifted in March after his ankle injury on Dec. 23, he quickly became the runaway favorite for the ROY award.

Wembanyama is also a top-3 finalist for Defensive Player of the Year. The winner is scheduled to be announced on Tuesday.

The 2023 No. 1 overall pick is the first player in NBA history to be selected as a finalist for the league’s Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year awards.

Although, the bout for DPOY involves two all-NBA defenders in Miami’s Bam Adebayo and Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert.

Gobert is the odds-on favorite to win the award. He was named the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year three times before (2017-18, 2018-19 and 2020-21).


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About the Authors
Mary Rominger headshot

Mary Rominger is KSAT 12 Sports' first full-time female sports anchor and reporter. She came to San Antonio from Mankato, Minn., where she worked as a weekend sports anchor at KEYC News Now. She has a journalism degree from Iowa State University and grew up in Southern California. Mary enjoys golfing, sports and finding new spots around town.

Spencer Heath headshot

Spencer Heath is a Digital Journalist at KSAT. Spencer graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied Radio-Television-Film. He’s worked as a journalist in San Antonio since June of 2022. Outside the newsroom, he enjoys watching movies and spending time with family.

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