Victor Wembanyama’s rookie season with the San Antonio Spurs is over. Spurs got Wembanyama with the No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft. The Center came in with a lot of expectations and is certainly the favorite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year award. Despite Spurs’ abysmal performances, he has established himself as one of the best rookies by breaking decade-old records and establishing some of his own.

Speaking to the Press, Coach Gregg Popovich aka Coach Pop revealed that he believed in Wemby’s skills from day 1. The French phenom showed no issue in learning and improving his game every day. With such qualities, he reminded him of a former Spurs player Tim Duncan. He said, ” He’s his. Mhm. Made me understand that he has those Tim Duncan qualities of innate basketball IQ the fire that he wants to be the best. You know, you have to be with somebody. Anybody can tell you anything about a player, but you have to be with them. So you get to understand their gut and their mentality, their philosophy and what, what makes them tick he is and will continue to be special.”

Coach Pop was appreciative of Wemby’s performance and made him realize that he was not only gifted but “he’s gifted in a whole lot more ways than he knows.”

The 7-foot-4 tall star’s approach to defending was superb. He currently ranks atop of blocks per game in the entire league with 3.6. Spurs’ performance did not improve even with his addition. They finished the season 22-60 and were eliminated from the playoff contention for the fifth season running.

Victor Wembanyama in comparison to Tim Duncan

Before Wembanyama became the first draft pick for the Spurs last year. In 1997 Spurs selected Tim Duncan as the overall first pick. There was very little discourse about the pick and if there were any, Duncan’s number made them silent. Duncan ranked third league-wide in rebounds, sixth in blocks, and 12th in points as a rookie. Helping Spurs finish 56-26 record and a semifinal spot in the Western Conference in 1997-98.

Duncan was the Rookie of the Year and won the championship the very next season. He finished his 19-year career at Spurs with 5 Championships.  Wembanyama entered the league, becoming only the fourth player and the first rookie to finish a season with at least 1,500 points, 250 assists, and 250 blocked shots. The 7-foot-4 French international has not only solidified his case for Rookie of the Year honors but also mounted a legit Defensive Player of the Year case and could very well be on his way to becoming the youngest MVP in the coming years.

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Wembanyama won’t play again for the Spurs until next season, but fans will presumably see him in action long before that – he’s expected to be part of the French roster for the Paris Olympics this summer.