NBA News NBA News, Match Reports and Updates 
Every year there’s an abundance of lists that come out about the NBA’s players, coaches and teams, and none matter more than the general manager survey released before the season. The latest one was published on Thursday, and according to most top executives, Victor Wembanyama is primed to have one of the greatest seasons of all time in 2026-27. He got the most votes to win Defensive player of the Year as well the majority for the MVP crown, and the San Antonio Spurs are the favorite to win the title.
Holy moly, such a season hasn’t been logged since the great Hakeem Olajuwon in 1993-94. Keep in mind that the NBA’s DPOY award started in the 1982-83 season, yet even if it existed earlier, the only bigs who could have arguably won it, earned the MVP and led a team to the chip were Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Yet don’t forget that Michael Jordan claimed both awards in 1987-88, but his team lost in the Eastern Conference Finals. LeBron James would have been the first to accomplish this feat since Olajuwon, but he got robbed of the DPOY in 2012-13.
Advertisement
Olajuwon, who played three years at school and didn’t simultaneously win both awards until he was 31, was already on a tear when he turned 23. That was in his second season and at that age had already ascended into one of the most devastating players in NBA history. He was skinnier then, but an athletic marvel who could down turnaround jumpers with ease and soar through the lane. He wanted the big moment, and in Mirin Fader’s biography about him, there is a great line where he defended himself against complaining teammates for taking a shot with multiple defenders on him because he was the one paid to take that shot.
Wembanyama is only entering his fourth season and will turn 23 on Jan. 4. He has gotten closer to his grown man body every year and like the young Olajuwon, needs to be defended with all five players plus is a factor in fourth quarters, as he averaged 6.3 points in those periods during the playoffs.
At this point, the only heavyweight on his level is Nikola Jokić, yet most GMs picked him over Wemby as the best center….
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/victor-wembanyama-spurs-were-shown-130000900.html
Author :
Publish date : 2026-10-18 13:00:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
