Victor Wembanyama has been named Western Conference Defensive Player of the Month for his work in January, the league announced.
The raw numbers are hard to argue with. Wemby was the only Western Conference
player to get 100+ rebounds, 25+, and 10+ steals, according to Spurs PR. He did it while missing two games and only playing 27.7 minutes a night, which makes it even more impressive. The Spurs had the third-best defensive rating in January.
The curious thing is, Wembanyama was arguably not at his best in January, by the eye test and some advanced statistics. Still, a somewhat erratic Wemby is better than most defenders in the league, and his impact as a deterrent for drives and shots close to the rim is hard to measure. His solid individual work and the team’s success make the distinction unsurprising and well-earned, and it’s encouraging to know Wembanyama can be even better.
The Pistons’ Ausar Thompson was named Defensive Player of the Month in the East after leading Detroit to the best defensive rating in the league by a significant margin in January.
Previous recipients of the distinction in the West were the Thunder’s Cason Wallace in November and Chet Holgrem in December.
Wembanyama is averaging 24.1 points, 11.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and a league-leading 2.7 blocks in 28.9 minutes a game this season.
