The NBA’s 2023/24 Rookie of the Year race has arguably been the best in recent memory, with Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama and Thunder center Chet Holmgren both enjoying incredible debut seasons.
It was Wembanyama who got the upper hand in the latest chapter of the budding rivalry between the two young bigs on Thursday night. The No. 1 overall pick, who led the Spurs to an upset win over the Thunder, became the first player in NBA history to record at least 25 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, five blocks, and five 3-pointers in a game, according to Andrew Lopez of ESPN.
Wembanyama helped seal San Antonio’s victory by making a highlight block on a Holmgren shot attempt in a late-game possession (Twitter video link).
Asked after Thursday’s game whether the performance locked up the Rookie of the Year race for his star teammate, Spurs wing Devin Vassell said he believed Wembanyama had already earned that award.
“I feel like it’s been over, but I mean, night in, night out, the stuff that he does, the impact that he has on both ends of the floor, big shot after big block, after whatever the case may be, I mean he doesn’t even look like a rookie,” Vassell said, per Lopez. “The shots that he shoots, the confidence that he has in his game is second to none, truthfully.”
In their recaps of Thursday’s game, Mike Monroe of The Athletic and Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News each also declared the Rookie of the Year race all but over, contending that Wembanyama has it in hand. The 20-year-old has increased his season-long averages to 20.7 points, 10.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 3.3 blocks, and 1.3 steals in just 28.7 minutes per game across 54 appearances, with a shooting line of .467/.327/.814.
Still, Wembanyama, who has stated that winning Rookie of the Year is important to him, wasn’t as eager as Vassell or those local reporters to declare the race over, according to Lopez.
“No, because there’s still 22 games left,” Wembanyama said. “So no, it’s not over.”
While the Spurs’ young star has repeatedly showed signs this season that he’s on his way to becoming a generational talent, Holmgren has made a compelling case of his own for Rookie of the Year honors by anchoring the defense of one of the NBA’s best teams while scoring effectively and efficiently on the other end of the floor. In 59 games (30.2 MPG) for the Thunder, he has put up 17.2 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 2.7 APG, and 2.6 BPG on .544/.398/.784 shooting.
Even after Thursday’s loss to San Antonio, the Thunder are 29.5 games ahead of the Spurs in the standings, which may be a factor voters weigh when they make their Rookie of the Year choice. Holmgren’s .617 effective field goal percentage is also substantially stronger than Wembanyama’s .518 mark.
In the latest episode of The Hoop Collective podcast (YouTube link), ESPN’s Tim MacMahon suggested that Holmgren might be having the best rookie season of any non-Wembanyama player of the past decade besides Luka Doncic in 2018/19. Tim Bontemps argued that Holmgren has been even better this season than Doncic was as a rookie.
However, both ESPN reporters, along with colleague Brian Windhorst, agreed that Wembanyama is the obvious frontrunner for this season’s award.
For what it’s worth, while an injury to either player would obviously impact the race, the NBA’s new 65-game minimum for end-of-season awards doesn’t apply to Rookie of the Year, so there’s no risk of either Wembanyama or Holmgren becoming ineligible.
We want to know what you think. Is Wembanyama your Rookie of the Year pick? If so, what would it take for Holmgren to overtake him in the season’s final six weeks? If not, why do you feel as if Holmgren’s case is stronger?
Head to the comment section to weigh in with your thoughts!
Second year players aren’t rookies!
He is considered a rookie because he didn’t play last year. That was was established at the start of the year.
Doesn’t matter – there never was a race. Wemby is going to be the new face of the NBA and his ceiling is way above Chet’s so there was never any chance anyone else was winning the award.
Aware of that, but he shouldn’t be. If it’s year 2 of collecting an nba paycheck that makes you not a rookie. Dumb rule and always has been
Oh sorry – I actually agree – I thought you were saying he wasn’t eligible.
I think Wemby is probably the better player but it’s not like it’s apples to apples since Chet is on a playoff team while Wemby is required to carry the load for the tanking Spurs. Both will be amazing so excited to see how they both develop.
Sure its Podz. Only one under 7’1″ putting up numbers in every catagory. Its too easy when your that tall…
Shawn Bradley would like a word. As would the hundreds of other seven footers who were mediocre or sucked balls in the NBA.
I would always pick Wemby over Chet if I wanted to have a player on my team, though obviously they’re both amazing.
But the reality is that Chet is having a such a crazy good year that he’s clearly outpacing Wemby in the stats that measure winning. Incredibly so.
Maybe it’s unfair since Chet had a year of watching and learning, but if he’s a rookie, his rookie season is just heads and shoulders above the big guy.
I assume most people only look at the basic stats and highights, which is why most will assume Wemby is the clear cut leader.
But honestly it’s not even all that close.
This year? Chet.
Long term? I’d still pick Wemby, but I’d hardly be sad to have Chet on my team. Looking forward to seeing them play (and play against each other) for a long time!
Rookie of the year needs adjusted.
Come up with an award for guys improving upon rookie season
Sophomore Sensation or something
Wembanyama coming in right away is more impressive than Holgrem spending a year practicing, training, learning in the NBA.
Wembanyama hasn’t impacted winning and his numbers aren’t dominant for a human his size alone,but..
For most of the first half I would have went with Holmgren, as the season has progressed I’ve come around to Wembanyama. Wembanyama has better numbers all around and that’s with his stats being suppressed by a minutes restriction.
Sure Holmgren plays on a team with a better record but he also plays with Shai who is one of the top 5 players in the league. No one on the Spurs with the exception of maybe Vassell is even on Jalen Williams level who is the Thunders 2nd best player. It’s easier to have a winning record when you have better teammates.
Wemby is the ROY hands down!
Chet has been unbelievably good… but, Wembanyama has been the best rookie in decades!!!
Wemby..he’s getting better and better each month. Chet early on but by the end of the year it shouldn’t be that close
Victor has it in the bag…
Chet has been good… Victor has been great…
I don’t agree with giving Holmgren an edge because he’s on a winning team. I don’t think the Thunder are good because of him, as much as he is good because of them, if that makes any sense. Wemby IS the Spurs.
Factually the spurs would not be one bit better if wemby and Chet switched places ! If anything spurs have even less wins with Chet !
Exactly, how does being the 3rd best player on your team make you a better choice than a guy who is by far the best on his.
I think people are confusing ROY with MVP where winning/competing does matter
Holmgren has been a significantly better player this season by the basic measures that are generally used for season awards, certainly MVP. Wemby is merely the better highlight machine, and thus the 2k’er favorite. But the merits don’t always seem to matter as much with this particular award.
The problem is just like with Bedard in the NHL it was pretty much decided before the season even started that Wemby would get RotY. The writers all want to give it to Wemby for the narrative. In order for Chet to win it he had to be leaps and bounds the clear RotY not have it close at all.
So it appears. There has never a disparity like this between 1) Vegas Odds (Wemby favored) and 2) the basic stats and metrics (Holmgren is categorically better, and they play the same position and schedule).