Victor Wembanyama named 2025-2026 NBA Defensive Player of the Year, first unanimous winner

San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama has finally ascended to his defensive throne after three seasons in the NBA. On Monday, the league announced him as the 44th winner of the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year Award.

He not only becomes the first unanimous winner of the award but also is the youngest winner ever at 22 years old. He beat out fellow finalists in Oklahoma City Thunder big Chet Holmgren and Detroit Pistons swingman Ausar Thompson for the honor.

Despite leading the league in blocks in all three seasons, Wembanyama takes home the award for the first time in his career. He finished second for Defensive Player of the Year to Minnesota Timberwolves star Rudy Gobert during his rookie campaign. In year two, Wembanyama didn’t meet the minimum 65-game threshold to qualify for any regular-season awards.

He only appeared in 46 games in the 2024-2025 season due to a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) that ended his season early and had many wondering if it would cut his career short. Still, the 7-4 center led the league in blocks despite only playing a little more than half the games.

Some pundits believe he could have won last year’s award even in such limited court time, if not for the 65-game rule. Instead, Cleveland Cavaliers star Evan Mobley took home the Hakeem Olajuwon Trophy.

But the 22-year-old’s career wasn’t cut short. He returned to the court better than ever in the fall and helped lead the Spurs to a 62-20 record. Only the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder had more wins this season (64-18).

Wembanyama is also a finalist for the Most Valuable Player Award, along with Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Victor Wembanyama becomes fourth Spur to win DPOY

Wembanyama joins an illustrious group of Spurs legends as the fourth player in the organization’s history to win the award. Despite the organization’s history of elite bigs, guard Alvin Robertson won the organization’s first DPOY in 1985-1986.

Not coincidentally, Robertson became only the second player ever to secure a quadruple-double in a game that season, and he’s the only player to do it with steals. Spurs legend David Robinson also has a quadruple-double on his resume, but it didn’t come during his 1991-1992 Defensive Player of the Year campaign.

Rounding out the group, former Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard won back-to-back trophies from 2014 to 2016. Surprisingly, perhaps the best defender in Spurs history, Tim Duncan, has never taken home the honor.

Defensive impact goes beyond blocks

Even though Victor Wembanyama leads the league in blocks per game (3.1) and total blocks (197), his gaudy paint protection numbers aren’t the only reason he takes home the award. The Spurs big man alters entire defensive game plans in ways the box score and even advanced stats struggle to measure.

Pundits have termed a non-tracked stat “nopes” to frame Wembanyama’s uncanny ability to make players think twice about attempts around the basket. Instead, oftentimes, they retreat entirely.

Even with this reputation, Wembanyama still possesses the ability to surprise offensive players with a block out of nowhere or get to attempts that other bigs simply can’t reach.

For context, Wembanyama played in exactly 64 regular-season games; though he meets the criteria due to playing in the NBA Cup Finals game, despite the stats from that game not counting. He recorded 197 blocks throughout the season. The next closest player — Indiana Pacers big Jay Huff — is 44 blocks away despite playing 18 more games.

No matter how you slice it, Wembanyama was a runaway winner for the award. Now, the new question is how many can he swallow up before his career ends?