The San Antonio Spurs' Victor Wembanyama earned the 2024 NBA Rookie of the Year title, while Chet Holmgren from the Oklahoma City Thunder also delivered an impressive debut season.
On the Road Trippin' podcast, Holmgren was asked if he thought he deserved the Rookie of the Year award over Wembanyama, considering his situation in Oklahoma City.
“It just comes down to who has more voters that believe in their side of the criteria, I guess,” said the Thunder rookie.
Wembanyama secured the Rookie of the Year award taking all 99 first place votes, surpassing Holmgren in the polls.
Chet Holmgren's feelings about Victor Wembanyama winning Rookie of the Year
“I don't think Wemby was unfair in winning Rookie of the Year or anything. Like I mean, all credit to him for a great season and everything. And you know, we're not rookies anymore.” he continued.
However, according to the Thunder center, the conditions between him and Wemby were different and their situations were not comparable.
“Our situations were different. Like polar opposites,” said Holmgren.
The Thunder clinched the top spot in the Western Conference and began their first playoff run since the 2020 bubble.While Wembanyama and the Spurs were 22-60 and never had a chance to even crack the playoffs.
“You can come up with 50 pros and cons for each of us on things outside of statistics. Just completely random things like who is on our team, what we are playing for, how much attention is placed on us. You can come up with a million things for each of us to try to skew decisions.”
Different positions for the Spurs and the Thunder
Wembanyama ended the season with averages of 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and a league-leading 3.6 blocks per game. Meanwhile, Holmgren had an impressive 16.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 2.3 blocks per game, starting all 82 games for a top seeded Thunder.
Despite Wembanyama thriving as the primary option on a struggling team, Holmgren played alongside All-NBA first-teamer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and rising star Jalen Williams, who took more shots than him in the Thunder's offense. Despite these differences in circumstances, their statistical outputs were relatively close.
While it's difficult to argue that Victor Wembanyama didn't deserve the award given his incredible production, many believe Holmgren was unjustly overlooked. Despite Chet Holmgren's slightly lower stats, his contributions led to the young Thunder team’s success, whereas Wembanyama's impressive numbers came in a season where San Antonio won only 22 games.
“You can come up with 50 pros and cons for each of us on things outside of statistics. Completely random things from who's on our team, what we're playing for, what amount of attention is placed on us,” added Holmgren
Holmgren in head-to-heads against Wembanyama
Additionally, in games against Wembanyama's Spurs, Chet consistently excelled, posting averages of 14.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.3 blocks on 48.8 percent shooting over four matchups. Oklahoma City secured a 3-1 advantage in the season series.
“We can come up with a million different things for each of us as to try and skew decisions. At the end of the day, what is the criteria? This is my thing with all NBA awards, what is the criteria. It's all in the eyes of the beholder.”
Chet Holmgren, drafted as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, missed his actual rookie season due to a Lisfranc injury sustained in a summer Pro-Am game.
Meanwhile, Victor Wembanyama, widely regarded as the most hyped draft prospect since LeBron James, was selected first overall in the previous year's draft by the San Antonio Spurs.
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