Despite the team’s losing skid, emerging Spurs player Victor Wembanyama did not give a damn about winning Rookie of the Month.
Victor Wembanyama looked back on the first five weeks of his NBA career after finishing the first full month of his rookie season (the San Antonio Spurs season began on October 25).
Injury to Victor Wembanyama to close the month
It was the end of November that Wemby suffered his first injury in the NBA. Although his status for the Spurs’ home game against the Atlanta Hawks on November 30 was classified as uncertain, he nonetheless participated and finished with the kind of stat line we’ve come to expect from the generational prospect. The Spurs lost 137–135 and it was his 21 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 blocked shots. It was the Spurs’ 13th straight loss.
Soon after, Wembanyama’s hip soreness that had been bothering him before Thursday’s game had Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich wonder if he would be ready for the team’s next outing. In agreement, the 7-foot-5 marvel said that he saw himself as “day to day.”
Wemby didn’t play in Friday night’s Spurs 121-106 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans.
Wemby through November
The French sensation, who played in every Spurs game through November, put up stats worthy of an All-Star. In just his fifth NBA game, he scored 38 points, outscoring Kevin Durant and Devin Booker in the fourth quarter of a second straight 132-121 victory over the Phoenix Suns. He averaged 19.3 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks per game.
Since then, the Silver and Black have not triumphed, but Wemby is optimistic that they will change their current situation.
“When I recognize the goal each day. Each person arrives with the intention of performing (good) at work. We’re good because everyone knows where we’re heading and most of us have been here before. You’ve got us covered, Wemby said.
It’s no accident that Wembanyama has had difficulties in some of the Spurs’ most heartbreaking losses. He put up just 13 points in a 41-point sweep against the Indianapolis Pacers, scored 11 in a 40-point rout against the Los Angeles Clippers, scored 14 in a 21-point rout in his Madison Square Garden debut, and finished with a career-low eight points in a crushing defeat at Oklahoma City.
Since that November 14 head-to-head against Oklahoma City Thunder rookie Chet Holmgren (who scored nine points that same night), Wembanyama has only scored in single digits once.
“We’ve become better at all the areas we’ve focused with the coaches and individual work, which is satisfying so far. It implies that our conversations and efforts are not in vain, Wemby continued.
When ClutchPoints questioned Victor Wembanyama about whether the first month passed by quickly or lingered due to the team’s difficulties, he said, “It has flown by, especially I’d say the first ten games went just like that.” Furthermore, the losses mount up quickly.
Chet Holmgren against the Rookie of the Month race
Holmgren and I are the two competitors in the NBA Rookie of the Month competition. Through November, the second-year power forward—who was sidelined for the entirety of his true rookie season due to injury—averaged 17.9 points, 7.8, and 2.1 blocks per game.
The number one overall pick in the most recent June draft provided a clear response when asked if receiving the monthly accolade meant to him: “I’d rather have…No, not truly, not in a losing situation. Not at all while the team is behind.
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