SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio Spurs' Victor Wembanyama came up short in the 2023-24 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award race, losing to Minnesota's Rudy Gobert.
It was his fourth award for Gobert, but many felt Wembanyama should have been the recipient because of his staggering defensive stats.
However, the Spurs' 22-win season may have hurt Wemby's chances, which might explain why he did not add that award to his resume.
But did Wolves President Tim Connelly throw shade at the Spurs and Wembanyama?
Here's what he said about why he believes Gobert got the DPOY award, and you be the judge if he took a shot at the Spurs:
"These awards don't go to teams that are struggling," Wolves president Tim Connelly said. "So beyond the well-deserved recognition, I think it's recognition of the success our team is having and hopefully will continue to have."
That's an interesting choice of words. He is correct that it is not often that major NBA individual awards go to players on bad teams, and Wemby (who was the chief competitor to Gobert in the DPOY race) was on a team well below .500.
Led by Gobert, Minnesota had the best defensive rating, allowed the fewest points per game, and held opponents to the lowest field goal percentage in the NBA. This helped Minnesota (56-26) post the second-best record in franchise history.
According to the NBA, in the 2023-24 regular season, Gobert ranked sixth in the NBA in blocks per game (2.13) and fourth in defensive rebounds per game (9.2). Opponents shot 43.4% from the field when Gobert was the closest defender, 6.1% lower than their expected percentage on those shots (49.5%). That difference was the largest among the 105 players who defended at least 800 shots during the season.
However, Wemby's defensive numbers were very impressive.
He led the league with 3.5 blocks per game, 10.5 rebounds, and an average of 1.3 steals (Gobert had 0.6 steals). He was the only player in the last 15 years to average at least three blocks and one steal per game.
He was an intimidating force in the paint, with opposing players not daring to attack the rim. He also posted 2.9 deflections per game (Gobert 1.6).
Ultimately, Wemby had a solid case to get the award over Gobert, but the Spurs' bad season (23rd-ranked defense) compared to the Wolves' owning one of the league's best records and the top defense may have doomed the Spurs big man.
Connelly's choice of words will likely not be received well by the Silver and Black faithful fanbase.
Let us know what you think, Spurs fans. Was a shot fired at the Spurs and Wembanyama? Follow us on Twitter at @KENS5 and @JeffGSpursZone.