Image Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

Rick Carlisle would be ‘surprised’ if Victor Wembanyama doesn’t win DPOY

Image Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

Even before Victor Wembanyama’s monster performance against the Indiana Pacers, Rick Carlisle had nothing but praise for the Frenchman. In a press conference on Thursday (23), the Pacers’ head coach commented that Wembanyama plays the game the right way and highlighted his defensive side.

“If he’s not the Defensive Player of the Year this year, I’ll be surprised,” said the coach. “One of the most impressive things to me about him, in his first year and a half, is that he plays the game the way it should be played.”

Additionally, Rick Carlisle spoke about the pressure on the big man to play an NBA game in his home country. However, he acknowledged that “he shows phenomenal maturity for a player of his age.” After making this statement, the 65-year-old coach, who is in his 23rd season as a head coach in the league, watched Wembanyama dismantle his team. The big man scored 30 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, and dished out 6 assists in the San Antonio Spurs’ 140-110 victory over Pacers.

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Victor Wembanyama favorite to win DPOY

Even more impressively, the Frenchman recorded 5 blocks in the game. He now averages four blocks per game and is one of the most dominant forces in the paint across the entire NBA. In fact, he’s currently the favorite in sportsbooks for the Defensive Player of the Year award, ahead of Evan Mobley and Jaren Jackson Jr.

On Christmas Day 2024, the league itself revealed that Wembanyama had blocked at least one shot against nearly 50% of the players he faced.

In his young career, Victor Wembanyama has played against 439 different opponents… and he’s blocked 197 of them (44.9%) at least once 🤯

The NBA’s leading shot-blocker (4.0 BPG) follows up his 30-PT, 11-REB, 6-AST, 5-BLK performance Saturday in Spurs/Pacers All-Access Paris at… pic.twitter.com/gRysCPtg5h
— NBA (@NBA) January 24, 2025

On Saturday (25), Rick Carlisle’s Pacers will meet Wembanyama’s Spurs again, looking to bounce back to the positive side of things in 2025. So far, Indiana has 24 wins and 20 losses, sitting in 5th place in the Eastern Conference. In their last 10 games of 2025, they have won 8, making them one of the hottest teams at the moment.