Victor Wembaneyama's rookie season with the San Antonio Spurs has ended.
The Spurs announced that the 7-foot-4 French phenom will not play in Sunday's season finale against the Detroit Pistons, ending a year in which he is almost certain to win Rookie of the Year honors.
His final numbers were 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and an NBA-best 3.6 blocked shots per game. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich hinted after Friday's win over Denver that he might postpone Wembangyama until the final game, and the team confirmed that decision on Saturday. Officially, injury management of his right ankle was cited as the reason.
“What's really interesting is, watching him from the beginning of the year to now, how much better he's gotten,” Denver coach Michael Malone said of Wenbanyama earlier this month. “I mean, it's noticeable. He came in as a really talented player, but looking at him now…Pop did a hell of a job developing him in one season.”
Wembaneyama — the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft — played in 71 games for the Spurs, finishing with a 21-60 record, tied for the worst record in the Western Conference entering the season's final game against Portland. It became. .
He had 34 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, two blocks and five 3-pointers in Friday night's 121-120 win over defending NBA champion Denver in his final game as a rookie. . The Spurs rallied from a 23-point deficit to win the game, their biggest come-from-behind victory of the season, and Wembang Yama made a celebratory spike as time expired.
Wenbanyama said after the game, “As a growing team, a young team, this is a big thing for us.” “We're going to need these kinds of wins in the future. We're going to need any wins. But big wins against big teams, No. 1 seeds, those are going to be needed in the future.”
He became the fourth player, and the first rookie, to finish a season with at least 1,500 points, 250 assists, and 250 blocked shots. Others: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar went five times, Hakeem Olajuwon twice and former Spurs great David Robinson twice. No one has done that since 1993-94, when Olajuwon and Robinson had seasons like this.
Wenbanyama won't play again for Spurs until next season, but fans will likely see him play long before then. He is expected to be part of France's squad for this summer's Paris Olympics.
And he has said multiple times that he feels the Spurs are on the right path to becoming championship contenders again.
“We have the potential to be great,” Wenbanyama said. “The fact that we have the chance to live through this with our fans, we just hope it's as great as it can be.”
