Victor Wembanyama recently made a bold declaration about the Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) award. Wemby is in the conversation for winning the award in his rookie season. However, the young French phenom is competing with Rudy Gobert, who has three DPOY to his name. After taking a jab at the Timberwolves star, the 20-year-old recently reiterated his stance on it.
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Towards the middle of last month, Wemby revealed his thoughts in his mother tongue during an interview with a French journalist, Theo Quintard. A translated version of his statement later surfaced with the rookie allegedly declaring, “I know that Rudy (Gobert) has a very good chance of winning it this year, and it would be deserved. Let him win it now, because after that it’s no longer his turn”, as seen in Tom Orsborn’s X[Formerly Twitter] post.
His words stirred a series of conversations at that time before they resurfaced in a recent interview. During Wemby’s latest appearance on Ringer NBA, the host, Kevin O’Connor, initially asked him about the accuracy of the translation. In response, the San Antonio Spurs star confirmed the notion of the statement, showcasing his self-belief.
However, the 7ft 4″ youngster later shared the global impact of the tug of war while admiring the talent of Gobert. He stated, “I know it’s close definitely. The first thing that comes to mind for me when I hear like the two frontrunners are him and I, I’m glad for France that this is happening. It’s huge…He would be deserved”.
This paved the way for exciting contests between these two French stars in the upcoming years. After all, this season, they went neck and neck to earn their place as contenders for the DPOY award. On one hand, Gobert averaged 14 points, 12.9 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks in 76 games this season, as per StatMuse. On the other hand, Wemby featured in 71 games to register 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 3.6 blocks per game, as per StatMuse.
This resulted in some very exciting head-to-head clashes between these big men, capturing their competitive nature. Competing against each other in four regular season games, both of them averaged double-doubles. While Gobert recorded 14.8 points, 13.5 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per game, Wemby registered 20.3 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 3.8 blocks per game, as per StatMuse.
Despite Wemby averaging more blocks per game, in the end, it was Gobert who won the award. Aside from the 31-year-old’s massive impact as an individual, it is likely that the Wolves’ being the fourth-ranked defense in the NBA [per NBA.com] also played a massive role in his victory. On the same list, the Spurs unfortunately finished just 26th, despite Wembanyama’s admirable efforts during this past season.
That said, given the impact he can make on this end of the floor, there could indeed be a future where he becomes the perennial DPOY winner for the next decade. So, as bold as his words may be, there seems to be more than a little bit of truth to them.
