Victor Wenbagnama's season-ending injury has thrown the NBA defensive player of the year race into the hottest.
The award was something other than him before the Spurs second-year superstar was closed with a blood clot in his right shoulder.
Wembanyama was on the BetMgm Sportsbook. Wembanyma failed to reach the lowest NBA 65 Games Awards in just 46 games played before Thursday's news.
Now the award race is completely in the air.
Winner two years ago, Grizzlies Big Man Jaren Jackson Jr. became a favorite with –130.
On Thursday morning, Jackson was +2500.
Evan Mobley of the Cavaliers jumped from +3000 to +110, becoming BetMGM's odds board's second favorite.
Wenbanyama, a heavy favorite since the odds were released before the start of last summer, has attracted the attention of an overwhelming amount of betting at BetMGM.
The French sense won 36.7% of Sportsbook bets and 32.7% of handles. Both were the highest in the field.
The 21-year-old 7-foot-3 center gave a flash of reason previously announced as one of the best prospects in NBA history this season.
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Before getting off, Wenbanyama had a league-high 3.8 blocks per game.
The 23-29 Spurs are currently the 12th seed of the Western Conference, heading for the break stretch after the star.
On Thursday morning, the lottery number 10 draft odds could cause San Antonio to move up the draft board and drop further from the playoff photos.
