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Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama is coming off a historic debut season
Wembanyama became the primary rookie to complete the season with at the least 1,500 points, 250 assists and 250 blocked shots
Victor Wembanyama’s debut season with the San Antonio Spurs has come to an end.
The Spurs said the 6-foot-1 French phenom will miss Sunday’s season finale against the Detroit Pistons, ending a 12 months by which he’ll almost definitely take home rookie of the 12 months honors.
Wembanyama became only the fourth player and first rookie to complete the season with at the least 1,500 points, 250 assists and 250 blocked shots. The others: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did it five times, Hakeem Olajuwon did it twice, and former Spurs great David Robinson did it twice. No one has done that for the reason that 1993-94 season when Olajuwon and Robinson had a season like that.
His final numbers: 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists and an NBA-best 3.6 blocked shots per game. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich suggested after Friday’s win over Denver that Wembanyama could be held out until the ultimate, and the team confirmed that call on Saturday. The official reason was treatment for a right ankle injury.
“What’s really interesting is watching him from the beginning of the year to now, you can see how much he’s improved,” Denver coach Michael Malone said of Wembanyam. – I mean, it’s noticeable. He got here on as a really talented player, but once you watch him now… Pop did a great job constructing him up in a single season.
Wembanyama — the No. 1 overall pick within the 2023 NBA Draft — has appeared in 71 games with the Spurs, who enter the Finals with a 21-60 record and are tied with Portland on the ultimate day of the season for the worst record within the Western Conference.
On Friday night, he scored 34 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, two blocks and five three-pointers in his final game as a rookie, a 121-120 victory over defending NBA champion Denver. Spurs got here back from a 23-point deficit to win the match – their biggest comeback of the season, and as time expired Wembanyama gave the ball a celebratory boost.
“As a growing and young team, this is important for us,” Wembanyama said after the match. “We will need victories like this in the future. We will need every victory. But important wins against big teams, first seeds, we will need them in the future.
Wembanyama won’t play for Spurs again until next season, but fans will likely see him play well before then. He is expected to be included in France’s squad for this year’s Olympic Games in Paris.
He has repeatedly said that he believes Spurs are on track to become title contenders again.
“We have the potential to be great,” Wembanyama said. “The fact that we get a chance to experience it with the fans, I can only hope that it will be as amazing as it can be.”
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