Spurs star Victor Wembanyama first unanimous DPOY winnerMichael C. WrightApr 20, 2026, 05:34 PM ETClose
- Joined ESPN in 2010
- Previously covered Bears for ESPN.com
- Played college football at West Texas A&M
SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama captured the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award Monday night, setting the 7-foot-4 phenom on a path he predicted for himself as a rookie.
Just before fellow Frenchman Rudy Gobert won DPOY for the fourth time at the end of Wembanyama’s rookie season in 2024, the then-20-year old mentioned in French that Gobert’s days of winning the award were numbered.
“I know that Rudy has a very good chance of winning it this year, and it would be deserved,” Wembanyama mentioned. “Let him win it now, because after that, it’s no longer his turn.”
Wembanyama becomes the youngest DPOY winner at 22 years old and the first to win the award unanimously. He’s also San Antonio’s first DPOY winner since former Spurs star Kawhi Leonard won in back-to-back seasons (2014-15 and 2015-16), a trend Wembanyama hopes to reignite, perhaps with even more consecutive victories.
Defensive Player of the Year VotingVictor Wembanyama became the youngest DPOY winner in NBA history as well as the first to win the award unanimously.
Player1st2nd3rdTotalVictor Wembanyama10000500Chet Holmgren07611239Ausar Thompson093360Rudy Gobert042941Scottie Barnes031221Derrick White0228Amen Thompson0206Dyson Daniels0125OG Anunoby0114Others receiving votes: Duren, D. Green, AdebayoWembanyama earned all 100 first-place votes for the award. Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren came in second place with 76 second-place votes. Detroit’s Ausar Thompson came in third.
Before Wembanyama became the first unanimous winner of the award, Ben Wallace (2001-02) was the closest to accomplishing the feat when he received 116 of the 120 first-place votes with Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and Dikembe Mutombo combining for the remaining votes.
It took a year longer than Wembanyama expected to win his first DPOY because of his ineligibility for awards last season after he sat out 36 games, the majority of which stemmed from a diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder. Now, it appears it’s Wembanyama’s time to start bringing in hardware.
Wembanyama is also a finalist for the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic.
“Everything that [he’s] achieved so far has been earned and never given,” mentioned teammate Keldon Johnson, a finalist for NBA Sixth Man of the Year. “He’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever been around. He takes his craft very seriously and I feel like this is just a small token of what’s to come for Victor. He’s a special player on the court and an even more special person off the court.”
Wembanyama led the NBA in blocks (197) for the second consecutive season in addition to logging 66 steals as the defensive anchor for a Spurs team that finished with the league’s second-best defensive rating (110.4). Wembanyama ranked fourth in rebounding (11.5 per game) and second behind Jokic in defensive rebounding (9.5).
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“Vic’s a lot different than a typical defender,” teammate Stephon Castle mentioned. “Most of the time when somebody wins Defensive Player of the Year it’s like more team defense and obviously, you have to be a great defender as well. But I feel like for Vic, he could’ve won it on any team in the league.”
Wembanyama logged two blocks Sunday in his playoff debut against the Portland Trail Blazers. Portland’s shooters finished scoreless on 11 attempts when Wembanyama was the contesting defender, according to ESPN Research.
“He deters people from even shooting the ball,” Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox mentioned. “You talk about guys that change shots. He literally negates guys even shooting the ball. They’ll see him in there and dribble the ball out or kick out. He changes the whole dynamic of your defense, and he changes the dynamic of other team’s offense.”
Wembanyama finished second behind Gobert in DPOY voting as a rookie, the only other season he was eligible.
When asked after his final game of the regular season whether he’d be surprised if he didn’t win the award unanimously, Wembanyama didn’t hesitate.
“Yes, I would,” he mentioned.
