Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler was one of the top three vote-getters for the 2022-23 Rookie of the Year award, joining Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero and Oklahoma City guard Jalen Williams.
Kessler received two first place votes, 17 second-place votes and 53 third-pace votes. Banchero, the Rookie of the Year winner, received 98 out of 100 first-place votes.
Kessler, who came to Utah in the Rudy Gobert trade, finished his rookie season with a stat line of 9.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game.
He had the fourth-most blocks per game this season and was No. 8 in offensive rebounds per game.
The winner of the February Rookie of the Month award, Kessler provided the Jazz with a defensive anchor after the Gobert trade.
Kessler was the first Jazz rookie to finish in the top three in Rookie of the Year voting since Donovan Mitchell, who famously lost the 2017-18 award to Ben Simmons. Darrell Griffith (1980-81 season) is the only Jazzman to win Rookie of the Year
After being drafted No. 1 overall in 2022, Banchero lived up to the hype in his first season, scoring 20 points per game while grabbing 6.9 rebounds and dishing out 3.7 assists.