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San Antonio Spurs big star Victor Wembanyama was unanimously named the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year for the 2025-26 season, and he did so in historic fashion.
Wembanyama, the 7-foot-4 phenom, became the youngest player ever to win the prestigious award at just 22 years old. Even better, he is the first ever to win the award unanimously and for good reason.
Wembanyama was a problem with and without the ball in his hands this season.
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San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama plays in the second half against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena in Denver, Colo., on April 4, 2026. (Ron Chenoy/Imagn Images)
He earned all 100 first-place votes for the award, with the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Chet Holmgren finishing with 76 second-place votes. Detroit Pistons guard Ausar Thompson finished third when the ballots were counted.
The second closest player to a unanimous win for Defensive Player of the Year was Ben Wallace in the 2001-02 season, finishing four votes shy of the 120-person panel.
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While Wembanyama is also a finalist for the league’s MVP award, this one in particular is something he has been looking to add to his career trophy collection.
Wembanyama was a rookie in 2024 when Rudy Gobert, his French compatriot, won his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award. However, Wembanyama, the first overall pick by the Spurs, said Gobert’s days as the best defender in the league would be coming to an end at some point.
He expected it to be at his hand. And although he was unable to win the award last season after playing just 36 games, Wembanyama made sure to follow through on his words this year.
“I know Rudy has a very good chance to win it this year and it would be deserved,” Wembanyama told ESPN at the time. “Let him win it now, for after that it is no longer his turn.”
Wembanyama’s prediction came true after he led the NBA in blocks with 197 on the season, marking the second straight year he has topped that category on the league’s stat sheet. He also recorded 66 steals and finished with a defensive rating of 110.4, which was second best in the NBA.
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama plays in the first half against the Dallas Mavericks at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas on April 10, 2026. (Scott Wachter/Imagn Images)
“All that [he’s] achieved thus far has been earned and never given,” Spurs teammate Keldon Johnson said of Wembanyama. “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 sign of what’s to come for Victor. He is a special player on the field and an even more special person off the field.”
Of course, defense isn’t all about forcing turnovers, as Wembanyama used his tall stature to grab the second-most defensive rebounds in the NBA (9.5), trailing only Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic. Jokic and Wembanyama join the Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as the three MVP finalists, with the latter hoping to repeat after a long campaign in 2024-25.
Wembanyama has developed into the presence on both ends of the court that the Spurs always envisioned when they won the NBA Draft lottery. Spurs veteran guard De’Aaron Fox knows players won’t even shoot the ball when they see him in front of them.
Victor Wembanyama (1) of the San Antonio Spurs stands on the court during their game against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center on March 17, 2026 in Sacramento, California. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
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“You’re talking about guys changing shots. He’s literally denying guys shoot the ball themselves,” he said, via ESPN . “They want to 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 teams’ offense.”
Wembanyama and the Spurs also got off to a good start in their first trip to the NBA Playoffs since the 2018-19 season, knocking off the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday to open their first-round series with a 111-98 victory. Wembanyama finished the game with a team-leading 35 points (13-of-21 shooting) with five rebounds, one assist and two blocks.
