Victor Wembanyama on Rudy Gobert winning another DPOY: ‘Let him win it now, because after that it’s no longer his turn’

Christopher Hine: Rudy Gobert didn’t practice today for the Wolves, was putting up some shots afterward. Chris Finch said there’s nothing “structural” going on with Gobert’s injury. Will see how the next two days go. Monte Morris did practice as he ramps back up to play. -via Twitter @ChristopherHine / March 14, 2024

In the latest episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq, the legendary center invited Mario Chalmers, who played as a starting point guard for the Miami Heat during championship years in the 2010s. When Chalmers said he would give the DPOY trophy to Miami’s Bam Adebayo, Shaq almost immediately agreed that it shouldn’t go to Gobert. “I never thought he was a great defensive player, either. What it is, there’s not a lot of centers that are making him play defense. He’s not doing it against Joker because he has to be engaged. But when he’s going against another guy, he’s 7’6, of course, if you lay it up, he’s going to block it,” Shaq said. “Defense to me is – guard that m***, shut him down. You want to impress me? Hold Joker under 15 points. Now you’re playing. All that weakside blocking shots, that’s cool but it ain’t going to work against guys like me and Joker and Embiid,” the Hall of Famer explained. -via BasketNews / March 14, 2024

Run It Back: “Rudy Gobert got X-rays on his ribs…I’m told X-rays were negative, so the hope is that it’s just a contusion, just a bruise of the rib area.” @ShamsCharania on Rudy Gobert. -via Twitter / March 13, 2024

Justin Kubatko: Prior to this season, no NBA player had ever recorded at least 150 assists, 150 blocks, and 100 3P made in a season. Chet Holmgren became the first player to reach those marks, and fellow rookie Victor Wembanyama is one 3P made away from joining him. 🔗 statitudes.com pic.twitter.com/QLNXfCL2Im -via Twitter @jkubatko / March 14, 2024

On the floor, Wembanayama wanted to get a quick set of pregame stretches in. First, he did hip rotations with both legs. Then he stretched his 8-foot wingspan up as high as he could go before bringing both hands down, almost putting both palms on the court. One more hip rotation and he was good to go. Stretching is a part of the normal maintenance plan for the San Antonio Spurs rookie as the bumps and bruises of a typical NBA season begin to pile up. “No matter the circumstances, we have to do what we can and do it a lot because we are not going to have quality time all the time,” Wembanyama said of keeping his body ready. “For example, we might have to take a nap on the bus or eat snacks somewhere. Quality is always important, but we also have to do a lot of quantity to be game ready; ice, pressure, everything.” -via ESPN / March 14, 2024

Now that centers are getting the attention that they deserve again, the veteran big man observes that his counterparts have enriched their offensive arsenal. “I think what’s happened is that centers have evolved with the way the game’s been changing, we’ve changed as well. Now you have centers that can really pass the ball, can put the ball on the floor, make plays, shoot threes, play like guards and we have Wembanyama who was 4 or 5. He plays like a guard,” Vucevic told Amerikanos24. -via BasketNews / March 13, 2024