{"id":92563,"date":"2024-08-29T19:08:46","date_gmt":"2024-08-29T23:08:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=92563"},"modified":"2024-08-29T19:08:46","modified_gmt":"2024-08-29T23:08:46","slug":"will-spurs-victor-wembanyama-first-player-nba-history-win-triple-crown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/08\/29\/will-spurs-victor-wembanyama-first-player-nba-history-win-triple-crown\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Spurs\u2019 MVP Be First Player In NBA History To Win Triple Crown"},"content":{"rendered":"

With San Antonio Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama<\/a>, anything seems possible.<\/p>\n

Will Spurs\u2019 Victor Wembanyama Be First Player In NBA History To Win Triple Crown<\/h2>\n

At 7-foot-4, Wembanyama is a world unto himself. Indeed, The Extraterrestrial moniker more than just a nickname. He has guard skills, from crossovers to stepback 3s. He\u2019s as dynamic a defender as his frame would suggest, covering ground and the rim in equal measure. While it\u2019s seen as a lost art in the modern era, he\u2019s also working on his post game.<\/p>\n

Averaging 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 3.6 blocks, and 1.2 steals per game on .465-.325-.796 splits, the 20-year-old was the runaway winner<\/a> for the 2024 Rookie of the Year award. He performed so well that there calls for him to be named the Defensive Player of the Year as well, though he lost out<\/a> to Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert<\/a>. Wembanyama was forced to settle for an All-Defensive selection, becoming one of just rookie players to make an All-Defensive team.<\/p>\n

Amazingly, he ranked 20th in votes for an All-NBA selection. Had he made one of the three teams, he would\u2019ve been just one of 22 rookies to do so. Only four of those players have done it over the last 45 seasons.<\/p>\n

Fittingly, Spurs legend Tim Duncan<\/a> is the last rookie to have made an All-Defensive and All-NBA team.<\/p>\n

Making History<\/h3>\n

Nobody has ever won Most Improved Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and Most Valuable Player in the same season. Yet, Wembanyama seems like he can be the first to win what would be an NBA Triple Crown.<\/p>\n

How Wemby Can Win DPOY<\/h4>\n

Already, Wembanyma seems bound to win a Defensive Player of the Year award in the near future.<\/p>\n

His peers are quick to praise his ability to blanket the rim. In fact, he led the NBA in blocks per game as a rookie. Furthermore, he\u2019s a modern big man built to guard out in space, giving him an advantage over players like Gobert. If he can replicate last season\u2019s production and become sturdier while defending in the low-post, he could be the favorite to win.<\/p>\n

How Wemby Can Win MIP<\/h4>\n

With how well Wembanyama played last season, the biggest obstacle may be winning Most Improved Player of the Year. However, helping him is the fact that there isn\u2019t exactly a set definition for \u2018Most Improved.\u2019 It isn\u2019t the player who has the biggest jump in their scoring average, or else Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas<\/a> would\u2019ve won last season. It can\u2019t be who wins the most games. That\u2019s evidenced by Oklahoma City Thunder swingman Jalen Williams<\/a> not even being a finalist.<\/p>\n

Based on Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey<\/a>, who won the award last season<\/a>, it may be both. Interestingly, this increases the importance of Chris Paul<\/a>\u2019s addition. As one of the best smartest players and best passers, Paul will take advantage of Wembanyama\u2019s height advantage in ways the Spurs point guards couldn\u2019t last season. This is with regard to his pick-and-roll play, look ahead passes, and post entry passes.<\/p>\n

Paul\u2019s clutch gene is also worth mentioning, as San Antonio doesn\u2019t have to rely so much on Wembanyama in those moments. Of course, the young star\u2019s competitiveness shines when the lights get bright. However, what made Cerberus so valuable was that he had three heads. With Wembanyama, Paul, and Devin Vassell<\/a>, the Spurs do too.<\/p>\n

How Wemby Can Win MVP<\/h4>\n

If Wembanyama is putting up massive numbers, he could be in Most Valuable Player consideration. Again, Paul should help him score a few additional baskets per game. That alone could lead to an MVP-caliber scoring average. Defensively, he\u2019s bound to have eye-popping statlines thanks to how well he uses his length.<\/p>\n

However, the most important number may be in the win-loss column. Though the Spurs don\u2019t have to be first in the conference they have to at least be a playoff team. It\u2019ll help if they can be one of the top four seeds. This is a tall task, even for Wembanyama. Yet, there\u2019s reason to believe that San Antonio can clinch a postseason berth.<\/p>\n

With the emergence of the Play-In Tournament, the Spurs only have to be a top-10 seed in the regular season. If they can beat out five teams, they have a shot.<\/p>\n

Who Could The Spurs Beat Out<\/h5>\n

The Portland Trail Blazers could be the worst team in the conference. Their best players may have already peaked and their young pieces still have a lot to learn. The Utah Jazz find themselves in a similar situation. It\u2019s one reason why they seriously considered<\/a> moving Lauri Markkanen<\/a>, the face of the franchise, this offseason.<\/p>\n

The Houston Rockets seem a bit further along in their development. However, Jalen Green<\/a> is as inconsistent as any player in the NBA, and their success largely rests on his shoulders<\/a>. Then there\u2019s the Los Angeles Clippers. After losing Paul George<\/a> in the offseason, the Clippers could be in store for a tough year<\/a>. If Kawhi Leonard<\/a> is unable to stay healthy, it\u2019ll be that much worse.<\/p>\n

Lastly, beating out the Golden State Warriors seems like a pipe dream. Nonetheless, in 2023-34, the mighty Warriors missed the playoffs for the third time in the last five seasons. Furthermore, there\u2019s a real chance that the Warriors regress next season. Many of core players are getting long in the tooth or have maxed out their talent. Their young pieces haven\u2019t played long enough for there to be an unshakable confidence in their consistency. They also lost Klay Thompson<\/a> in the offseason.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, it\u2019s fair to say that San Antonio could challenge for a playoff spot, especially if luck is on their side.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With San Antonio Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama, anything seems possible. Will Spurs\u2019 Victor Wembanyama Be First Player In NBA History To Win Triple Crown At 7-foot-4, Wembanyama is a world unto himself. Indeed, The Extraterrestrial moniker more than just a nickname. He has guard skills, from crossovers to stepback 3s. He\u2019s as dynamic a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":93385,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[34,1608,62],"tags":[229,1143,4669],"class_list":["post-92563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spurs","category-basketball","category-nba","tag-chris-paul","tag-nba-awards","tag-victor-wembanyama"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}