Victor Wembanyama is the best scoring rookie since Michael Jordan
JJ Reddick also apologizes for brushing him off for Rookie of the Year earlier in the season.
Amidst his adjustment period to the NBA, dealing with experimental lineups, and the Spurs overall early season struggles, Victor Wembanyama was losing the Rookie of the Year race in favor of Chet Holmgren, a technically-second-year player who was putting almost (but not quite) as impressive numbers and contributing to a surprising championship-contender in the Thunder. That was enough for some people to redefine ROY to “rookie on the best team” instead of best overall and write off Wemby, and apparently that included former NBA sharpshooter JJ Redick.
He’s always good for a hot take, so I don’t necessarily remember it, but in the latest episode of his podcast, “The Old Man and the Three Things”, he officially issued an apology for brushing Wemby off in regards to the ROY race back in January, saying he came across as too flippant and fully recognizes Wemby’s improvement since then, thanks in part to lineup changes and his minutes restrictions being lifted.
Redick then goes on to discuss the improvements in his play, such as better shot selection, balance, and a tighter handle, as well as go over some his crazy numbers and records broken over the last few months (most of which we’ve heard of and covered here), but there was one I hadn’t heard yet until now: Wemby has the most points per minute for a rookie since Michael Jordan in 1984-85 at 0.72.
We’ve been seeing the stat comparisons to big men like David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon and Shaquille O’Neal, but this may the first time we’ve heard him mentioned with the GOAT himself. Of course, Wemby has a looong way to go to be even considered in that tier as a player overall, but it’s a good place to start.
You can watch Redick’s segment below. It’s an enjoyable 20 minutes of apologies and stats.
