While the NBA is not that old, basketball is.
When comparing the history of the NBA to its current state, this is the most crucial point to keep in mind. The best basketball players in the world have been on the court for 77 years, yet James Naismith is credited with creating the sport 55 years before the NBA was founded in 1946.
An NBA player can become uniquely immortal if they accomplish something that no one else has done before.
And it gets us to Sunday. The superstar player for the San Antonio Spurs, Victor Wembanyama, made NBA history by being chosen as one of the three finalists for both the Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year titles.
TNT’s NBA pregame broadcast featured the announcement of both award finalists.
Year’s Rookie
Wembanyama was included as a finalist for the Rookie of the Year award, along with forwards Brandon Miller of the Charlotte Hornets and Chet Holmgren of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
After being selected with the second overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, Holmgren suffered an injury that kept him out of the 2022–23 regular season. However, he started all 82 games during the regular season for the Thunder, who went from being qualified for the NBA Play-In Tournament the previous season to winning the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference in 2023–24.
In addition to averaging 7.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 2.3 blocks, he shot 37% from three-point range and 53% from the field to score 16.5 points on average.
In the 2023 NBA Draft, Miller—who was selected second overall behind Wembanyama—brought to Charlotte his impressive ability to make big shots from the University of Alabama. 17.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.4 assists were his averages. His three-point percentage of 37.3% was fourth best among rookies. Holmgren came in fifth among all rookies with 37%.
Wembanyama leads all NBA rookies this season in the following categories: scoring (21.4 points), rebounding (10.6), blocks (3.6), and steals (1.2).
This season, Wembanyama was also recognized three times as the Western Conference Rookie of the Month.
Player of the Year for Defence
In order to win Defensive Player of the Year, an award that has been given out since the 1982–1983 season, Wembanyama will have to overcome two all-NBA defenders.
Bam Adebayo, a center/forward for the Miami Heat, is among the top two-way players in the NBA. Adebayo, who is already 26 years old and a three-time NBA All-Star (career-best 8.1 defensive rebounds per game, 2.2 personal fouls per game), will undoubtedly finish in the top five in the Defensive Player of the Year voting for the fifth time in as many years.
The largest distinction between this year and the preceding four is that, at worst, Adebayo might place third, which would already be his best-ever DPOY performance.
The last DPOY finalists are well-known to Wembanyama, as are the majority of offensive players who venture into the paint.
Rudy Gobert, the centre for the Minnesota Timberwolves, is back in familiar territory. Prior to this, he won three NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards (2017–18, 2018–19, and 2020–21). Gobert has finished in the top five for the DPOY voting eight times in total (2014–15, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, and 2023–24). He has also been selected as a first-team All-NBA defensive player six times (2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, and 2021-22). Gobert averages 9.2 defensive rebounds per game and 2.1 blocks per game in 2023–24.
*That* much* was missed
The seven-foot-four Though he is not the first rookie to be in the top five for both categories, Wembanyama is unquestionably the first NBA rookie to be designated a top-three finalist for both ROY and DPOY.
Two other inexperienced players were extremely close.
The Washington Bullets selected Manute Bol in the 1985 NBA Draft, and he had an immediate impression in his debut campaign. Bol, a 7-foot-7 player, came in second for Defensive Player of the Year and fifth for Rookie of the Year.
The recipients of these honours in 1985–86 are two somewhat well-known players: Spurs shooting guard Alvin Robertson (DPOY) and New York Knicks centre Patrick Ewing (ROY).
You know who was the other rookie who was almost there.
Even though Tim Duncan had one of the wildest rookie seasons in NBA history, he was only able to win Rookie of the Year and place fifth in the Defensive Player of the Year competition in 1997–98. He he.
On Sunday, the NBA also revealed the three nominees for the following five awards: Coach of the Year, Most Improved Player, Sixth Man of the Year, Clutch Player of the Year, and Most Valuable Player.
The league announced that on Tuesday, April 23, when the network begins airing the 2024 NBA Playoffs, TNT will announce the winners of each award.
We do not yet know which awards will be announced in which order.
