Victor Wembanyama has reportedly won the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year for 2025-26 after a stellar regular season that led his team to a second seed finish in the West. The 22-year-old French star becomes the first-ever unanimous Defensive Player of the Year in the league’s history.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, he is also the youngest in league history to win this award. Previously, four players had tied the record for having this accomplishment at age 23: Alvin Robertson (1985-86), Dwight Howard (2008-09), Kawhi Leonard (2014-15), and Jaren Jackson Jr. (2022-23).
“The real struggle might have been getting to 65 games, but I’m super, super happy to win this award, and actually super proud to be the first ever unanimous [winner],” Wembanyama said after winning the award. “My shot-blocking is something I’ve been working on forever. It’s probably the area of my game where I feel most comfortable.”
The San Antonio Spurs’ center is also in the race for the MVP award after an impressive third season in the NBA, where he averaged 25.0 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 3.1 blocks per game while shooting 51.2% from the floor and 34.9% from the three-point range.
The finalists for the Defensive Player of the Year also included Chet Holmgren from the Oklahoma City Thunder and Ausar Thompson from the Detroit Pistons, but neither of them got a single vote over Wembanyama in this race.
The French star has had a stellar start to the postseason with the Spurs, and this award will only be a confidence booster for him going into his first playoffs.
He had 35 points, five rebounds, two blocks, and one assist in the Spurs’ 111-98 Game 1 win over the Trail Blazers in the playoffs, where he shot 13-21 from the floor (61.9 FG%) and 5-6 from beyond the three-point line (83.3 3P%).
Wembanyama had been knocking on the doors to win the Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) ever since he was drafted in 2023. In just his rookie season, he finished second in the voting for the award behind Rudy Gobert at the time.
Had he won the award in his rookie season, there was a chance that we may never have seen another player break his record in our lifetimes. But even at age 22, what Wembanyama has accomplished is the fruit of his own hard work and dedication to the sport.
There were predictions early in the season that Wembanyama would be in the exact position where he is now in terms of being in the race for the MVP, as well as a dominant DPOY win.
If the projections are correct, this is probably just the first of many more such awards to come in his career, as his defensive impact is unparalleled in the league right now.
Players are scared to drive in when Wembanyama is waiting in the paint with his eight-foot wingspan to block their shots. This could truly be the beginning of Wembanyama’s era of dominance in the NBA.
