Cavaliers Magic Basketball

Minnesota Timberwolves v Denver Nuggets - Game Five

Staff

Johnny Furphy

Denver Nuggets v Minnesota Timberwolves - Game Three

Stringer

NCAA Basketball: Countdown to Craziness

Contract Photographer

Timberwolves Nuggets Basketball

Suns Timberwolves Basketball

Patrick Beverley

Indiana Pacers v New York Knicks - Game Two

Minnesota Timberwolves v Denver Nuggets - Game One

Minnesota Timberwolves v Denver Nuggets - Game Two

Jenny Boucek,Ben Sheppard

San Antonio Spurs v Memphis Grizzlies

Utah Jazz v Los Angeles Clippers

Bucks Pacers Basketball

Los Angeles Lakers v Denver Nuggets - Game One

Knicks 76ers Basketball

Respond to prefers-color-scheme dark in app web views

Follow section front redirects in Spectrum

Enable NLP source in PCS for load testing

Switch off the News Alerts Survey Widget when we have enough responses

Poll to determine if new LUF updates are available

Allows the winning A/B test variant to be turned on without Spectrum deployment

Show infinite scrolling sections in Assembler MultiView

Show option for NLP article summaries in Action Bar

Show NLP summaries collection recirc on article pages

A general feature flag for Recipe Features that aren't yet released

Feature flag for media team features that aren't yet released

Use new Orca video player for preroll plugin in Spectrum

Show the snow tracker (instead of the heat tracker) on Spectrum

Commanders will start a new era with a palatable 2024 schedule

The 26 best new restaurants in the D.C. area

The new dining reality: Smaller groups and shorter weeks

When budget flights actually make good budget sense

Cruise ships to return to Baltimore two months after bridge collapse 

Some cruise prices are about to get a little more clear

Cruise settles with person dragged under one of its robotaxis

Senators studied AI for a year. Critics call the result ‘pathetic.’

 Key Senate matchups set for November in Maryland, West Virginia

Biden and Trump agree to CNN debate in June, ABC faceoff in September

The incomprehensible, unattainable scale of Trump’s deportation plan

Putin hails Russia’s ties with China as ‘stabilizing’ force in the world

Who is Robert Fico, the Slovakian prime minister who was shot?

Middle East conflict live updates: U.S.-built pier anchored in Gaza;  ICJ due to hear arguments on Rafah

Puppy abandoned with heart-rending note is adopted, named Minerva

Man, 91, shocks tiny firehouse with $500K gift: ‘Nobody knew how much I’d saved’

Retired cop meets abandoned baby he helped 23 years ago: ‘What are the odds?’

Netflix will air NFL’s Christmas games, a major step for streaming service

Sam Feist, longtime CNN executive, will become CEO of C-SPAN

Michael Cohen testimony ties Donald Trump to hush money payment

Best Places to Work in the Federal Government 2023

How America tried and failed to stay White

Miss Manners: Co-worker lies to avoid doing her job

Ask Amy: I’m scared of my adult stepson who keeps losing his temper

Carolyn Hax: Fiancé plans to have a baby with someone else

The Post’s choices in Northern Virginia’s U.S. House primaries

States see legalized sports betting as a tax windfall — but at what cost?

Haiti’s plight is a case study in the ‘responsibility to protect’

Look to the cloud to protect the life documents saved on your computer

Can you spot bad financial advice on TikTok? Take our quiz.

5 myths about Social Security as the program faces a funding crisis

President Joe Biden Joint Chiefs and Combatant Commanders 

Justin Ford

San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama was unanimously named NBA rookie of the year Monday, becoming the third player in franchise history to win the award after Hall of Fame centers David Robinson (1990) and Tim Duncan (1998).

Wembanyama, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/06/23/nba-draft-winners-losers/" target=_blank>the No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft</a>, received all 99 first-place votes, beating out<b> </b>fellow finalists Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Holmgren, who finished second, and Charlotte Hornets forward Brandon Miller.

Holmgren received 98 second-place votes and one third-place vote. Miller received one second-place vote and 83 third-place votes, while Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. (10), Golden State Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski (four) and Dallas Mavericks center Dereck Lively II (one) also received third-place votes.

Regarded as the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/06/22/victor-wembanyama-new-york-draft/" target=_blank>most coveted teenage basketball star</a> since LeBron James entered the league in 2003, Wembanyama lived up to the hype by averaging 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 3.6 blocks and 1.2 steals in 71 appearances, <a href="https://stathead.com/tiny/Ywrvp" target=_blank>numbers that have been matched</a> by only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Hakeem Olajuwon in any season in NBA history.

The 20-year-old French phenom led the NBA in blocks per game and ranked first among award-eligible rookies in scoring, rebounds and player efficiency rating. Wembanyama <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/11/08/victor-wembanyama-first-two-weeks/" target=_blank>enjoyed a strong start to his rookie season</a> by winning two high-profile showdowns against Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant, and he closed by averaging 23.5 points and 12.0 rebounds after the all-star break. His popularity, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/03/08/victor-wembanyama-photos/" target=_blank>judged by social media engagement and jersey sales</a>, rivaled the likes of James and Stephen Curry.

“My goal was always to help my team as best I could and get better as the year went on,” Wembanyama said in an interview with TNT. “I knew that, in order to do this, I had to be individually good on the court and dominant. [Rookie of the year] was a huge thing for me and a big thing to get. It’s always been really important, and I’m glad it’s official.”

Thanks to Wembanyama’s undeniable talent and historic production, award voters chose not to penalize him for the rebuilding Spurs’ 22-60 record, which was fifth worst in the league. By contrast, Holmgren, 22, played a central role for the Thunder, which earned the top seed in the Western Conference with a 57-25 record.

Holmgren, the No. 2 pick in the 2022 draft, averaged 16.5 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists and was eligible for rookie of the year honors because he missed the entire 2022-23 season with a foot injury.

The 21-year-old Miller, who was picked second in the 2023 draft, averaged 17.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists for a Hornets team that went 21-61 and finished well outside the playoffs.

Wembanyama was also named as one of three finalists for defensive player of the year, joining Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert and Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo. The NBA will announce the winner of that award Tuesday.

Before he returns to San Antonio for his second season, Wembanyama is expected to be one of the faces of the French national team at the Paris <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">Olympics</a> this summer.

“Physically, the work is never going to be done,” Wembanyama told TNT. “We’re going to keep discovering new ways to get better and work on my body. With basketball, there’s a lot I want to work on. I’m excited. The big thing I can tell you is that I’m already working on my balance and strength.”

Bubbleball

Johns Hopkins University

BA in Writing Seminars

Greatest Of All Talk

Ben Golliver joined The Washington Post as the National NBA Writer in 2018. An Oregon native, he lives and works in Los Angeles.

Ben Golliver

washpost

Victor Wembanyama earns NBA rookie of the year award

the-washington-post

Getty Images

Wizards

Top 100 players

prism://prism.query/site,/sports/nba&limit=20

Your source for Washington Wizards and NBA basketball news and information. Get the latest schedules, stats, rosters and scoreboards for the NBA. Stay updated on the latest Washington Wizards and NBA news!

National Basketball Association

prism://prism.query/site,/sports/wizards&limit=3

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/wizards/

prism://prism.query/ap-articles-by-site-id,/sports/nba&limit=5

prism://prism.query/site-articles-only,/sports&limit=20

Sports

The Washington Post Sports section provides sports news, video, scores, analysis and updates about high school, college, and pro sports teams, including the Capitals, Nationals, Washington Football Team, United and Wizards. Post Sports also offers blogs and discussions about the latest sports news.