A few days ago, Draymond Green was surprised to see Victor Wembanyama doing so well in the fight for the title of Defender of the Year. His words obviously did not escape Nicolas Batum, who mentioned them on the airwaves of RMC .
If his season were to end there, he could already be very satisfied.
However, the appetite and ambition that characterize Victor Wembanyama undoubtedly push him to want even more.
At just 20 years old, the Spurs’ young center is poised to complete an impressive first season in the NBA.
His averages of 20.7 points, 10.3 rebounds and 3.4 blocks predestined him to be crowned Rookie of the Year.
But beyond this trophy which quite logically extends its arms to him, the French virtuoso also claims another individual distinction.
Indeed, he appears well placed in the race for the Defender of the Year trophy, which, however, is not really unanimous in the league.
Draymond Green, for example, expressed his disagreement with this position and thus provoked a lot of reactions.
Faced with Draymond, Nicolas Batum defends Wembanyama
According to Green, despite Wembanyama’s excellent defensive statistics, San Antonio’s poor collective defense would de facto exclude him from this DPOY race.
This, even if he has no doubt that he will end up winning this prize sooner or later in his career.
This is not a knock on Draymond Green, but when he said he didn’t understand why Victor was second in the race for Defender of the Year when his team is only the 24th best defense in the the league… Certainly, it is the 24th best defense, but it is the 6th best when Victor is on the field, and the 30th when he is not!
In other words, Draymond ‘s argument based on the performance of the Spurs defense as a whole would not hold water.
Would the Golden State barker therefore have a problem with Wemby and French players in general, he who physically attacked Rudy Gobert earlier this season?
This is the question that was asked to Batum, to which he responded with a touch of sarcasm:
I don’t know if there is a problem. Afterwards, I can also understand that potentially giving the Defender of the Year trophy to a rookie whose team is, overall, 24th in the ranking of the best defenses, it’s a bit of a stain, it’s true.
But anyway, it’s Rudy who will get it, so it’s worse for him! And that’s good for France.
If Draymond Green does not make him a credible candidate for the Defender of the Year trophy, Victor Wembanyama can however count on the support of Nicolas Batum. This, even if the latter expects to see Rudy Gobert crowned at the end of the season.
