Victor Wembanyama is making a late push to win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award, and the top pick recently earned an endorsement from Kyrie Irving.
Wembanyama is averaging 20.7 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 3.5 blocks and 1.3 steals on 46.4% shooting from the field in 61 games with the San Antonio Spurs. He is the only rookie to register a triple-double (2) this season and leads all first-year players in 30-point games (6).
The 7-footer leads the league in blocks and is third in defensive box plus-minus (plus-3.0), 10th in defensive win shares (3.5) and 12th in rebounds. He also leads all players in games with at least five blocks (20); the next highest player has nine (Brook Lopez).
Irving believes he should absolutely be in contention for the award.
He does do things like a Defensive Player of the Year would. He is showing signs that he has exceeded all of the Defensive Player of the Year stats previous to guys that have won it. You guys see it. I don’t know who they’re going to pick, but he has all the tools to be named Defensive Player of the Year. He is for sure a candidate.
I don’t know how he wouldn’t be unless the (number of) games played and minutes but every Defensive Player of the Year that has won in the past few years, he’s almost head and shoulders (above them), and we still have what, 15 or some odd games left? I give him credit for being such a young player but learning on the fly and doing everything he can to get his team wins.
According to the BetMGM Sportsbook, Wembanyama is second in odds (plus-350) to win Defensive Player of the Year, trailing only Minnesota center Rudy Gobert (minus-500). Gobert is a three-time winner and last took home the honors in 2021.
The two Frenchmen share a close connection because of their roots. Wembanyama looks to Gobert as a mentor, and the veteran often helps him by offering advice and other bits of information. Gobert has also commended him for his approach and work ethic in the past.
The late push by Wembanyama for the award will likely fall short, but the 20-year-old is looking forward to competing against Gobert for it in the future. He knows his time is coming.
“I know that Rudy has a very good chance of winning it this year, and it would be deserved,” Webanyama said on March 14, via Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News. “Let him win it now because after that, it’s no longer his turn.”
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