Rookie Victor Wembanyama had a huge impact on the San Antonio Spurs this season.
Wemby averaged 21 points, 10 rebounds, and three assists and was the unanimous winner of the NBA Rookie of the Year Award.
“My goals were always to help my team as best as I could and get better as the year went on,” Wembanyama said from San Antonio on TNT after the award was announced on the network’s NBA playoff pregame show. “I knew in order to do this I had to be individually good on the court and dominant. So, it was a huge thing for me and a big thing to get. It’s always been really important and I’m glad it’s finally official.”
ESPN’s Shannon Sharpe recently made a bold prediction about the young Frenchman, saying he’ll be MVP of the league within the next four years.
Sharpe thinks that Wemby will be MVP before he’s 25 due to his dominance in the middle and his scoring abilities.
“He’s gonna win the MVP within his first four years,” Sharpe said on First Take Tuesday morning. “One of the next three years, he’ll win MVP, because he can score. He’ll average 25 [points], give you 12 [rebounds], give you three blocks with three assists. The Spurs will make the playoffs and it will be solely because of him … By the time he’s 23-24, he’ll have an MVP.”
.@ShannonSharpe believes Wemby will win NBA MVP within his first four years.
Agree? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/DSt09Aqpfy
— First Take (@FirstTake) May 7, 2024
Sharpe’s First Take partner Stephen A. Smith tapped the breaks just a little bit on this prediction, only because he doesn’t know what the Spurs will put around Wemby to allow him to win the award.
Most of the time, the MVP goes to the player on the best team. Rarely does a player on a bad team get the nod. So it’ll be up to Spurs to surround Wembanyama with the tools he needs to succeed.
