The basketball world celebrates Victor Wembanyama’s Rookie of the Year win

Victor Wembanyama took another step toward cementing himself as one of the best in the NBA. The San Antonio Spurs big man was named the 2023-24 Kia Rookie of the Year. He’s the sixth player to win it unanimously, joining former Spur David Robinson, Ralph Sampson, Blake Griffin, Damian Lillard and Karl-Anthony Towns.

Immediately following the announcement, the basketball world began to celebrate Wembanyama’s win. With unprecedented expectations looming over him, Wembanyama exceeded them in one of the more memorable rookie seasons in recent memory. From a 5×5 stat line, to leading the league in blocks, Wembanyama was a marvel to watch this season.

Fanatics celebrated the victory with an exhibit celebrating Rookie of the Year winners who became NBA legends. Wembanyama was greeted with messages from Hall of Famers like Robinson, LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal, Pau Gasol and Allen Iverson. Chris Paul joked that he wished Wemby would let him get a mid-range jump shot over him. Durant told him his future is bright. O’Neal proclaimed Wembanyama will be one of the greatest big men ever.

The Inside the NBA crew on TNT announced Wembanyama’s win. How fitting was it that O’Neal was the one to announce him, given he is a former ROTY winner himself. Maybe Spurs fans will forgive Shaq for his constant comparisons of Wemby to Bol Bol now.

Wembanyama sat down with the TNT crew to discuss the award win. He told them that this summer he’s focused on improving his core strength and his balance. Another interesting anecdote came from Ernie Johnson, who said that R.C. Buford remembers the exact date he saw Wembanyama play, May 4th, 2019. Wembanyama was just 15-years-old at the time. The Spurs have wanted to get Wembanyama in the Silver and Black for half a decade.

Wembanyama won the award over Chet Holmgren and Brandon Miller, who finished second and third respectively. Holmgren and Wembanyama were in a tightly contested race for most of the season. Somewhere around the end of December / beginning of January, Wembanyama started to gain real momentum. Wemby played so well to end the saeson that he made up enough ground to win the award unanimously.

The Spurs celebrated the victory with a few videos highlighting the rookies biggest plays. Emphatic blocks, dunks and mesmerizing three-pointers were a staple of Wembanyama’s game. The messaging in all of these videos is clear, this is only the beginning. There is more for Wembanyama to improve upon and he seemingly has the mentality to do so. That’s bad news for the rest of the NBA.

After his interview with TNT, Wembanyama took the time to speak with local press at the Spurs practice facility. He told Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News, “If we become the team we’re going to become, these are going to be on our way and on my way.” It sounds like the Rookie of the Year isn’t satisfied with this accolade. He wants to win more and establish his legacy as one of the best big men in the NBA.