Victor Wembanyama versus Chet Holmgren for Rookie of the Yr was a enjoyable dialogue whereas it lasted and it needs to be a enjoyable recreation throughout the recreation when the San Antonio Spurs play the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder Wednesday night time.
That’s to not take something away from Holmgren, who has been an integral a part of the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder’s success along with his capacity to unfold the ground on one finish and shield the rim on the opposite.
Wembanyama is only a completely different form of him. On Feb. 23, Wembanyama notched the rarest of uncommon video games, producing a “5×5” stat line with 27 factors, 10 rebounds, eight assists, 5 steals and 5 blocks in 31 minutes towards the Lakers. It was the twenty second occasion of such a recreation in NBA historical past and the primary since 2019.
Averaging 21.3 factors, 10.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.3 steals, 3.6 blocks and making one gobsmacking spotlight after one other, the Frenchman is having one of many biggest rookie seasons of all-time.
How sure can we be that this Wembanyama season deserves such lofty reward? By really stacking it up towards among the finest.
For the aim of this train, solely seasons put up the NBA-ABA merger have been thought of, when the league expanded to 22 groups and extra apples-to-apples comparisons will be laid out for Wembanyama. Earlier than this era, rookies had been coming into the league averaging near or greater than 40 minutes per recreation and placing up numbers that will be just about not possible within the trendy NBA.
It’s definitely value acknowledging and respecting that Wilt Chamberlain turned the primary participant to win each Rookie of the Yr and MVP in the identical season (1959-60) after averaging 37.6 factors and 27 rebounds in 46.4 minutes per recreation, however that additionally additional illustrates the purpose. Oscar Robertson totaled 30.5 factors, 10.1 rebounds and 9.7 assists when successful 1960-61 Rookie of the Yr.
Whereas we’re right here, a lot respect to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (generally known as Lew Alcindor when he entered the league), Elgin Baylor (who lifted the Lakers from final place to the NBA Finals), Elvin Hayes (who led the league in scoring his rookie season) and Wes Unseld (who turned second and solely different participant not named Chamberlain to win ROY and MVP in the identical season).
Shifting on, listed below are the best rookie seasons from the previous 48 years that rival or surpass what Wembanyama has achieved this season:
LUKA DONCIC (2018-19)
Luka Doncic’s rookie season is an enchanting one to look again on.
Seeing the participant he’s now, the doubts that circled round him heading into the draft are much more laughable. Coming over to the NBA after enjoying professionally with Actual Madrid, skeptics doubted his capacity to transition and cited a scarcity of athleticism as causes for concern.
Doncic went third within the 2018 NBA Draft behind Deandre Ayton to Phoenix and Marvin Bagley III to Sacramento, and was then traded by Atlanta to Dallas in alternate for Trae Younger. As soon as he was formally a Maverick, the Slovenian went to work. He averaged 21.2 factors, 7.8 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.1 steals to run away with Rookie of the Yr honours, however maybe most impressively had Dallas legend Dirk Nowitzki in awe of how good he already was and was going to be.
Arguably the most important legacy Doncic’s rookie season has left behind is the toughest slap attainable within the faces of those that have any form of bias towards gamers coming from Europe. Nobody desires to make the identical mistake Phoenix, Sacramento and Atlanta did.
BLAKE GRIFFIN (2010-11)
Blake Griffin was a kind of gamers coming into the league whose athleticism was a sight to behold. Arguably essentially the most spectacular dunker post-Vince Carter, his poster dunks are up there with anybody’s and his sky-high leaping capacity ushered in one of the vital exhilarating eras of basketball with Lob Metropolis.
In his rookie yr, Griffin averaged 22.5 factors, 12.1 rebounds and a subtly spectacular 3.8 assists over 82 video games. He confirmed he was greater than a dunker, significantly along with his playmaking capacity.
LEBRON JAMES (2003-04)
Probably the most-hyped rookie in NBA historical past and maybe North American sports activities historical past didn’t blink in his NBA debut towards, fittingly, the Sacramento Kings. He’s but to flinch, 21 years later.
LeBron James introduced himself with what turned a signature Tomahawk slam in his first recreation and went on to common 20.9 factors, 5.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.6 steals over 79 video games. He turned simply the third participant in NBA historical past to common at the least 20-5-5 as a rookie, after Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan. Tyreke Evans and Doncic are the one rookies to have carried out so since.
What’s really comical is among the feedback his personal teammates made about him forward of his arrival that included this gem from Carlos Boozer: “We now have higher gamers than him at his place already on our group.”
Cleveland greater than doubled its earlier season’s win complete from 17-65 to 35-47 with King James.
TIM DUNCAN (1997-98)
One of many wildest details about Tim Duncan is that he gained the Rookie of the Month award for each single month that season. In 82 video games, Duncan averaged 21.1 factors, 11.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and a pair of.5 blocks whereas taking pictures 54.9 per cent from the sphere.
After some severe tanking efforts to place the Spurs in place to draft Duncan, the Gregg Popovich-led Spurs went from a 20-62 report to 56-26 and a West semis look.
ALLEN IVERSON (1996-97)
Allen Iverson crossing over Michael Jordan is arguably one of the vital iconic moments any NBA rookie has ever had.
In a season crammed with these sorts of moments, Iverson averaged 23.5 factors, 4.1 rebounds, 7.5 assists and a pair of.1 steals for an in any other case hapless Sixers group that managed simply 22 wins. Crew success adopted within the years to return, however seeing somebody succeed on the NBA stage whose physique wouldn’t stick out like a sore thumb amongst most of the people impressed on a stage that’s laborious to do justice with phrases.
SHAQUILLE O’NEAL (1992-93)
A person by no means afraid of being too loud, Shaquille O’Neal’s first season within the NBA with the Orlando Magic was as outsized and outrageous as the person himself.
Averaging 23.4 factors, 13.9 rebounds and three.5 blocks whereas taking pictures 56.2 per cent from the sphere instantly made him one of many elite large males within the league. Orlando added 20 wins to its 21-win tally from the earlier season, and that set the group on its method to an NBA Finals look simply two years later.
Some might have forgotten simply how briskly O’Neal was up and down the ground, and when mixed along with his energy, made him essentially the most dominant large man to play within the trendy period.
Nobody had a solution for O’Neal, the “Hack-a-Shaq” proving to be a mark of respect and worry.
DAVID ROBINSON (1989-90)
Though David Robinson was drafted in 1987, he didn’t play for 2 seasons as he was serving within the U.S. Army. Chiseled to bodily perfection at 7-foot-1 and 235 kilos with pace to burn, Robinson was a nightmare matchup from his first night time within the league, as he went on to common 24.3 factors, 12.0 rebounds, 3.9 blocks and 1.7 steals in 82 video games as a rookie.
San Antonio skilled one of many biggest common season turnarounds in historical past, going from 21 wins the yr earlier than to 56 wins the following and falling in seven video games to Portland within the West semis.
MICHAEL JORDAN, HAKEEM OLAJUWON (1984-85)
Thought of by many the best participant of all-time, Michael Jordan took the league by storm averaging 28.2 factors, 6.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists and a pair of.4 steals on his method to Rookie of the Yr honours.
With Julius Erving a.ok.a. Dr. J on the tail finish of his profession, Jordan’s athleticism offered a well timed infusion of electrifying performs that captivated the minds of followers everywhere in the globe. The Bulls went from successful 27 video games to 38 and making the playoffs the following season, and that was about as small as Jordan’s success could be for the rest of his profession with Chicago.
Olajuwon’s rookie season would get much more love if not for having debuted in the identical season as Jordan’s. The Dream joined the Houston Rockets and put up numbers large males can solely hope to place up within the peak of their careers. Olajuwon averaged 20.6 factors, 11.9 rebounds, 2.7 blocks and 1.2 steals whereas taking pictures 53.8 per cent from the sphere and enjoying all 82 video games.
Houston improved to a report of 48-34 after going 29-53 the earlier season as Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson fashioned a particular Twin Towers duo, the latter averaged 22.1 factors, 10.4 rebounds, 1.0 steal and a pair of.0 blocks.
An unimaginable mixture of grace, energy and talent, Olajuwon is the second largest motive the ‘84 draft class is considered one of many biggest of all-time.
LARRY BIRD, MAGIC JOHNSON (1979-80)
You may’t discuss one with out the opposite, and they also make this checklist collectively.
Larry Hen performed all 82 video games in 1979-80, averaging 21.3 factors, 10.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.7 steals on his method to Rookie of the Yr honours.
Boston went from a 29-53 report the earlier season to a 61-21 report together with a visit to the Japanese Convention Finals after the addition of Hen. That’s an absurd stage of impression and greater than teased the impression Hen’s profession was going to have on the league.
Though Magic Johnson didn’t win Rookie of the Yr, he bought one thing Hen would have gladly traded for: Finals MVP. Johnson teamed up with Abdul-Jabbar to steer the Los Angeles Lakers to a championship by following up regular-season numbers of 17.9 factors, 7.7 rebounds, 7.3 assists and a pair of.4 steals with playoff numbers of 18.3 factors, 10.5 rebounds, 9.4 assists and three.1 steals.
His 42-point, 15-rebound, seven-assist efficiency within the championship-clinching Recreation 6, enjoying centre within the absence of one of many biggest gamers of all-time in Abdul-Jabbar as a consequence of an ankle damage, is taken into account one of many biggest performances in NBA Finals historical past. He. Was. A. Rookie.
What Wembanyama doesn’t have on a superb chunk of those gamers, and a part of why Holmgren was within the ROY dialog for so long as he was, is group success. That’s not a mirrored image on him, although. The Spurs have been very dedicated to the tank, and the numbers present it. The Spurs are a plus-7.4 when Wembanyama is on the courtroom and maybe most importantly in indicating his defensive impression, enable 10.1 factors fewer per-100 possessions when he’s on the courtroom.
The likes of Jordan and James each had dropping data of their respective rookie seasons, and it’s clear as day that on no account was reflective of their capacity. By the identical token, in assessing these rookie seasons inside a vacuum, attaining the group successes that the likes of Johnson, Hen, Robinson and Duncan did whereas additionally establishing themselves as all-time greats does put them in a special class on this specific rookie dialog.
