No. 1 draft pick Victor Wembanyama has claimed the 2023–24 NBA Rookie of the Year Award for his stellar performance in his first season in the league.
The 20-year-old, who received all 99 first-place votes, becomes the first unanimous winner of the award since Minnesota Timberwolves forward Karl-Anthony Towns in the 2015-16 season.
Wembanyama gets the Wilt Chamberlain Trophy as he becomes the first player from France to win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, which has been handed out annually since the 1952–53 season.
𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑-𝟐𝟒 @Kia 𝐑𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫
🏆 1522 Total Points
🏆 128 3PM
🏆 254 Blocks
🏆 755 Rebounds pic.twitter.com/qLslF6p2Qa— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) May 6, 2024
The French youngster joins a list of Hall of Famers as he becomes the third Spurs player to earn the accolade, joining David Robinson (1989–90) and Tim Duncan (1997–98).
He beat two other top-performing rookies to win the honors. Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Homgren finished in second place with 295 total points, while Charlotte Hornets forward Brandon Miller settled for a third-place finish with 86 points.
Wembanyama led all rookies in points (21.4), rebounds (10.6), and blocks (3.6) per game. Among the first-year players, he finished fourth in assists (3.9) and ended second in steals (1.2) per game.
He joins former South Sudanese NBA star Manute Bol (1985–86) as the only rookie to lead the league in blocks per game and total blocks in a season since the stats were first recorded in the 1973–74 season.
Victor Wembanyama received all 99 first-place votes from a media panel, making him the first unanimous NBA Rookie of the Year since Karl-Anthony Towns in the 2015-16 season. pic.twitter.com/cWcjdXRrUD
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 6, 2024
In the 2023–24 regular season, Wembanyama led all rookies in points (21.4), rebounds (10.6), and blocks (3.6) per game, in addition to ranking fourth in assists (3.9) and second in steals (1.2) per game. He is the second rookie to lead all NBA players in blocks per game in a season, joining Manute Bol.
His record-breaking season also saw him become the first player to average at least 20.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 3.0 blocks in fewer than 30 minutes per game in a season. He is also the first player to have at least 1,500 points, 700 rebounds, 250 assists, 250 blocks, and 100 3-pointers made in a season.
