Sports briefs

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Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama named

NBA Rookie of the Year

Victor Wembanyama had a year like no rookie in NBA history.

Others scored more points, others grabbed more rebounds, others had more blocks, others made more steals. But never had there been a player who, in Year 1 of his career, posted all these averages — at least 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 3.6 blocks and 1.2 steals per game.

Until now.

The long-expected result became reality on Monday, when the Spurs’ star from France was announced as the unanimous winner of the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award. He’s the third San Antonio player to win it, joining David Robinson in 1990 and Tim Duncan in 1998 — both of whom, like Wembanyama, were No. 1 overall picks and instantly anointed as centers who would lead the Spurs to greatness.

“My goals were always to help my team as best as I could and get better as the year went on,” Wembanyama said from San Antonio on TNT after the award was announced on the network’s NBA playoff pregame show. “I knew in order to do this I had to be individually good on the court and dominant. So, it was a huge thing for me and a big thing to get. It’s always been really important and I’m glad it’s finally official.”

Wembanyama is the sixth player since the award debuted in the 1952-53 season to get every first-place vote. He joins Houston’s Ralph Sampson (1984), Robinson (1990), the Los Angeles Clippers’ Blake Griffin (2011), Portland’s Damian Lillard (2013) and Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns (2016).

Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren and Charlotte’s Brandon Miller were the other finalists for the award. Wembanyama got all 99 first-place votes from a panel of reporters and broadcasters who cover the league. Holmgren got 98 of 99 second-place votes, and Miller got the other second-place vote to finish third.

Miami’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. was fourth, followed by Golden State’s Brandin Podziemski and Dallas’ Dereck Lively II. No other rookie got a second- or third-place vote.

There had been other near-unanimous selections in recent years: Orlando’s Paolo Banchero got 98 of 100 first-place votes last year, Memphis’ Ja Morant got 99 of 100 in 2020, Dallas’ Luka Doncic got 98 of 100 in 2019, and Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons got 90 of 101 in 2018.

But voters left no doubt — Wemby was the one. And he’s already working toward getting better.

“Physically, the work is never going to be done,” Wembanyama said. “I’ve had my plan for months ready for all of my body and we’re going to keep discovering new ways to get better and work on my body. For basketball, there’s a lot I want to work on.”

Wembanyama became the first international winner of the award since Doncic in 2019 and the fifth such winner in the last 10 seasons. Andrew Wiggins (Canada) won in 2015, Towns (Dominican Republic) won in 2016, Simmons (Australia) won in 2018 and Doncic followed the next season.

Wembanyama became just the fourth player, and first rookie, to finish a season with at least 1,500 points, 250 assists and 250 blocked shots. The others: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did it five times, Hakeem Olajuwon did it twice and Robinson did it twice. Nobody had done it since 1993-94, when Olajuwon and Robinson both had such a season.

Wembanyama said his family has adapted to life in the U.S. and the change from France to Texas was not overwhelming.

“With no contest, it’s the best country in the world for an athlete,” Wembanyama said. “The culture, everything, the infrastructure, it’s made for us to thrive. I’m really in a bubble. I know I’m living a very privileged life as an NBA player and there’s a lot of people taking care of me every day. This award is also for them.”

The rookie award may be the start of a big week for Wembanyama, who will be in the top three finishers for Defensive Player of the Year as well. That award gets announced Tuesday, with Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert and Miami’s Bam Adebayo the other finalists.

The NBA will reveal the MVP — either Denver’s Nikola Jokic, Dallas’ Luka Doncic or Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — on Wednesday.

Mavs extend coach

Jason Kidd’s contract

in middle of playoffs

DALLAS | Jason Kidd found a groove with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving a season after a chaotic ending to the first two months together for the Dallas superstars.

The Mavericks coach has his team advancing in the playoffs for the second time in his three years in charge, and the 51-year-old now has a contract extension to go with it.

Kidd signed a multiyear deal Monday, the day before Dallas opens a second-round playoff series against Oklahoma City. The Mavs moved on by beating the Los Angeles Clippers in six games.

A year ago, Dallas missed the playoffs after reaching the 2022 Western Conference finals in Kidd’s debut as coach for the team he helped win a championship as a point guard in 2011.

The blockbuster trade for Irving in February 2023 wasn’t the catalyst the Mavs hoped for another postseason run. Instead, the team tanked at the end of the regular season to try to preserve a draft pick, even when there were still mathematical hopes of qualifying for the play-in tournament.

Kidd was the front man for all the tough questions in the final days of the regular season, and got a vote of confidence from then-owner Mark Cuban. Dallas kept the draft pick, and first-rounder Dereck Lively II had a significant impact as a rookie center.

“Last year, we learned a lot about character, about the team,” Kidd said. “At the time, everyone had their opinion. But understanding what the plan is internally, I thought we executed the plan. Being calm and not losing your mind or being offended of what others say turned out to be the right thing.”

Irving re-signed with Dallas, and after Cuban sold his majority stake to the casino-linked families of Patrick Dumont and Miriam Adelson, a late-season surge lifted the Mavs to fifth in the West at 50-32.

The extension for Kidd comes after his name surfaced in reports of the Lakers’ coaching search. Los Angeles fired Darvin Ham last week.

Terms of the deal weren’t released. Doncic and Irving are under team control together for one more season. Irving has a player option in his contract for 2025-26, Doncic the following season.

“We are excited to have coach Kidd continue to lead our team throughout the coming years with this well-earned contract extension,” said Dumont, who is the team’s governor while Cuban has the role of alternate governor. “We are looking forward to his leadership in continuing to build and grow this already great franchise.”

A hall of famer as a player, Kidd ended his career second on the all-time list for assists behind John Stockton. He went into coaching immediately upon retirement, leading Brooklyn to the second round of the playoffs in his first season in 2013-14 before Milwaukee hired him away from the Nets.

The Bucks fired Kidd in the middle of his fourth season — with a pair of first-round playoff exits the first three years — and he spent two years as an assistant with the Lakers, including when LA won the NBA title in the 2020 playoff bubble.

Kidd, who replaced Rick Carlisle in Dallas, has a 140-106 regular-season record with the Mavs and is 323-296 overall.

After Kidd and NBA Finals MVP Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavs to the 2011 title, they didn’t win another playoff series until beating Utah in the first round under Kidd two years ago. Now Dallas has three series victories in three seasons.

“Jason brings a wealth of experience and expertise to this role, which cannot be duplicated,” general manager Nico Harrison said. “He has earned the trust and respect of our players and that of so many across the league.”

Court upholds ruling that Zion Williamson’s contract with an agent was void

RICHMOND, Va. | A federal appeals court has upheld a 2021 ruling that NBA star Zion Williamson’s contract with a marketing agent was void because the agent was not licensed in North Carolina when the two entered an agreement in 2019.

Florida-based agent Gina Ford had sought $100 million from Williamson, claiming the former Duke All-American improperly broke an agreement she had to represent him in endorsement deals.

A federal judge in North Carolina found that Ford was not a licensed agent in that state at the time she entered an agreement with Williamson and that their contract did not comply with key requirements outlined by the state’s sports agent law. The fact she wasn’t licensed shielded Williamson from any penalties associated with breaking the contract.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with that ruling in an opinion written by Judge Albert Diaz and released Monday.

Williamson played his freshman season at Duke, and the New Orleans Pelicans made him the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NBA draft. Williamson filed a federal lawsuit in North Carolina the month of the draft to terminate a five-year contract with Ford’s agency after moving to Creative Artists Agency LLC.

Wide receiver DJ Chark

Jr. signs with the Los Angeles Chargers

COSTA MESA, Calif. | The Los Angeles Chargers added some depth to their wide receiver room by signing DJ Chark Jr. on Monday.

Chark had 35 receptions for 525 yards with Carolina last season, and led the team with five receiving touchdowns. He was a second-round pick by Jacksonville in 2018 and spent four seasons with the Jaguars before going to Detroit in 2022.

Chark’s best season was in 2019, when he had 73 receptions for 1,008 yards and eight touchdowns.

Wide receiver remains a work in progress for the Chargers after they released Mike Williams and traded Keenan Allen to Chicago in March. They drafted Ladd McConkey in the second round along with Brenden Rice and Cornelius Johnson in the seventh round.

Joshua Palmer is the most experienced player in the group, entering his fourth year, while Quentin Johnston, last year’s first-round pick, struggled in his rookie season.

—From AP reports