No surprises – Vembanyama is confidently recognized as the best rookie in the NBA

The Frenchman is the third Spurs player to win the NBA Rookie of the Year award. Before him, it was won by David Robinson in 1990, and in 1998 by Tim Duncan. Like Vembanyama, they were selected with the number one pick in the draft.

“My job has always been to help the team and get better with every match,” said the 20-year-old centre-back after receiving the award. “In order to do that, I knew I had to have a good season individually.”

Vembanyama is the sixth player in NBA history to receive all the first places in the Rookie of the Year voting. Since the 1952 season, when such an award was introduced, Ralph Sampson of the Houston Rockets (1984), Robinson of the Spurs (1990), Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers (2011), Damien Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers (2013) and Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves (2016).

Charlotte Hornets forward Brandon Miller and Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Holmgren also claimed the title of the best rookie of the season.

Holmgren averaged 16.5 points and 7.9 rebounds, while Miller averaged 17.4 points and 184 3-pointers this season.

In the vote for the best rookie, Vembanyam was followed by Holmgren, who received 98 out of 99 second places, while Miller rounded out the top three.

Vembanyama is the first European since Luka Doncic in 2019 to win the NBA Rookie of the Year award.

The Frenchman is also the first rookie in the league to score at least 1,500 points, provide at least 250 assists and block at least 250 shots in his first season.

Vembanyama was also nominated as one of the top three defensive players in the league this season. The three-time owner of this award, Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert and Miami Heat center Bamu Adebayo are also competing for this award. The winner in this nomination will be announced on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets, Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks and Shay Gilges-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder are competing for the NBA MVP award. This award will be presented on Wednesday.

NBA season awards are given for performance in the main tournament.

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