Stephon Castle made no secret about it: He needed to be rookie of the yr.
And he obtained it finished — by a large margin.
The San Antonio Spurs now have back-to-back winners of the award, with Victor Wembanyama final yr and Fort this season. Fort was the fifth rookie in Spurs historical past to attain greater than 1,000 factors.
It was one-sided within the voting. Fort obtained 92 first-place votes, simply topping runner-up Zaccharie Risacher of the Atlanta Hawks and third-place finisher Jaylen Wells of the Memphis Grizzlies. Risacher obtained 5 first-place votes, Wells obtained the opposite three.
Canadian and Memphis Grizzlies centre Zach Edey completed fifth within the voting with one second-place vote and 7 third-place votes.
“Coming in with all the arrogance that I had in myself as a participant, that was undoubtedly a purpose of mine from Day 1,” Fort mentioned on TNT, which broadcast the revealing of the outcomes. “I am simply blissful I used to be capable of execute it.”
Fort’s win marked the second time in additional than a half-century that one franchise went back-to-back with the top-rookie honor. Minnesota’s Andrew Wiggins (now of Miami) and Karl-Anthony Cities (now of New York) had been voted rookies of the yr in 2015 and 2016, respectively.
The final occasion of a workforce going back-to-back earlier than that: 1973 and 1974, when Bob McAdoo and Ernie DiGregorio pulled it off for the Buffalo Braves.
“I get so excited watching him play,” mentioned Chris Paul, Fort’s backcourt mate this season in San Antonio. “The very first thing that I need to see in a teammate or anyone is how aggressive they’re. That’ll take you additional than expertise any day. And I noticed instantly was that he was aggressive. I used to be like, ‘OK, cool. That is going to be simple.’”
Fort led all rookies this season in factors (1,190) and steals (74). Risacher completed sturdy, successful Jap Convention rookie of the month for each February and March. Wells led all rookies in video games began (74) and 3-pointers made (138, matching the full posted by Washington’s Bub Carrington).
Risacher — who hails from France, like Wembanyama — was seeking to give the NBA the primary occasion of worldwide gamers successful the award in consecutive years since Australia’s Ben Simmons and Slovenia’s Luka Doncic in 2018 and 2019. Wells was bidding to be Memphis’ first rookie of the yr since Ja Morant in 2020.
The rookie of the yr award was voted on by a worldwide panel of 100 writers and broadcasters who cowl the league and solid ballots shortly after the tip of the common season.
The opposite awards that had been a part of that voting course of and have already had their outcomes unveiled: Cleveland’s Evan Mobley successful defensive participant of the yr, New York’s Jalen Brunson successful clutch participant of the yr, and Boston’s Payton Pritchard successful sixth man of the yr.
On Wednesday, probably the most improved participant — Cade Cunningham of Detroit, Dyson Daniels of Atlanta, or Ivica Zubac of the Los Angeles Clippers — can be introduced, additionally at 7 p.m. EDT on TNT.
Different awards introduced by the league because the finish of the common season: Golden State’s Stephen Curry the Twyman-Stokes teammate of the yr award and Warriors teammate Draymond Inexperienced gained the hustle award.
— With information from Sportsnet Workers
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