Despite having one of the best starts to a career in NBA history, San Antonio Spurs' Victor Wembanyama has surprisingly few accolades. Spurs fans have a nonsensical NBA rule to thank.
His NBA debut coincided with a recent rule change that requires players to play at least 65 games to qualify for all NBA and most major awards.
After being outright snubbed for defensive player of the year as a rookie and failing to make the All-Star team, he was again passed over for all NBA and defensive player of the year during his sophomore season. That's despite him leading the league in total blocks and blocks per game after having appeared in just 46 games.
The counterargument is that he played far too few games to qualify for either honor, but it was clear that he was the best defensive player in the league last season. The fact that no one came close to either of his block marks illustrates that.
Victor Wembanyama is owed several NBA honors
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[If healthy next season](https://airalamo.com/victor-wembanyama-single-handedly-spurs-offseason-best-nba), he should be first in line for defensive player of the year, all NBA honors, and his second straight All-Star team. Never mind that the league still caps the all-star teams at 12 players for each conference even though NBA rosters have been much larger for 20 years, but Wembanyama should be starting next season.
No matter which weird format the league runs with for the all-star game. In the league's defense, the rule is meant to encourage players to play. However, there are extenuating circumstances that the rule simply doesn't account for.
Wembanyama was head and shoulders better than the next best defensive player of the year candidate. Even if they played 30 more games than he did, it doesn't change the fact that he was superior over more than half a season.
The NBA should get rid of the 65-game rule thanks to Wembanyama
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The league changing a new rule because of one player may seem far-fetched, but they definitely should. I mean, the voters should be able to vote for whoever they see fit for each eligible award.
If player A plays 63 games but is clearly better than the second-best option, who plays 74 games, then it's absurd for the first player to be ineligible for an award. There is also a point where voters will recognize that a player didn't play enough games and not vote for them.
That should be on the voters, not on the NBA. Had that rule not been in place, Wembanyama would have won defensive player of the year and made all-NBA. That's unfair for it to go to a worse player because Wembanyama didn't meet an arbitrary line in the sand the league came up with for games played.
All told, Wembanyama should be in for a monster season. If he can stay healthy, then he should rack up several major accolades owed to him after being robbed last season.