
Spurs' Wembanyama captures first career DPOY
Victor Wembanyama captures his first NBA Defensive Player of the Year award!
Victor Wembanyama has won the 2025-26 NBA Defensive Player of the Year award, becoming the first unanimous winner in history. He previously finished second in DPOY voting during his rookie season.
Victor Wembanyama was a virtual lock to win Defensive Player of the Year in 2024-25 before a blood clot cut his season short at 46 games.
There were no shortcomings this season. The NBA announced on Monday that Wembanyama won the 2025-26 Defensive Player of the Year award, the first of his three-year NBA career.
He was the first unanimous winner of the award in NBA history. Wembanyama beat out fellow finalists Chet Holmgren and Ausar Thompson to secure the hardware.
The win marks Wembanyamaâs second top-two finish in voting for DPOY. He finished second to Rudy Gobert during his 2023-24 Rookie of the Year campaign.
If projections hold true, the DPOY award will be the first of many for the transcendent San Antonio Spurs center, who has no equal as a defender in basketball. Thanks in part to his defensive prowess, Wembanyama is also an MVP finalist alongside Nikola JokiÄ and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Wembanymaâs game is unprecedented on multiple fronts. At 7-foot-4 with handles, a face-up game and a 3-point shot in addition to post moves, Wembanyama is next to impossible to guard. But itâs arguably his defense that sets him apart above all else.
Opposing players with the ball have to account for Wembanyama and his 8-foot wingspan, whether attacking the rim, pulling up from the mid-range or even on the perimeter.
Victor Wembanyama became the first unanimous Defensive Player of the Year by receiving all votes for the award in the 2025-26 season.
The other finalists for the 2025-26 Defensive Player of the Year award were Chet Holmgren and Ausar Thompson.
Victor Wembanyama's season was cut short to 46 games due to a blood clot, but he still secured the Defensive Player of the Year award.
Victor Wembanyama has finished in the top two for Defensive Player of the Year voting twice, including his second-place finish in the 2023-24 season.

Victor Wembanyama captures his first NBA Defensive Player of the Year award!

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Victor Wembanyama's 3.1 blocks per game were 1.2 more than anybody else in the NBA.
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect / REUTERS)
Wembanyama led the league in blocks per game (3.1) for the third time in his three NBA seasons. He altered countless others as the leagueâs premier rim protector. He averaged over a block per game more than the leagueâs second-place finisher, fellow DPOY finalist Holmgren (1.9 blocks per game).
Wembanyamaâs blocks alone placed him as the league leader in stocks (blocks + steals) per game, a combined metric frequently cited to measure a playerâs defensive impact. But he added one steal per game to his tally as a defender who can impact the game in multiple ways.
Wembanyamaâs defense translated to success for the Spurs. As a team, the Spurs ranked third in the league in defensive rating, largely due to Wembanyamaâs impact. And the Spurs are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2019 as a championship contender.
Wembanyama won DPOY while anchoring a Spurs team that secured the NBAâs second-best record (62-20) and the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. He made his playoff debut on Sunday, leading a 111-98 Spurs win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Wembanyamaâs game tally almost cost him DPOY for a second straight season. But he just reached the 65-game minimum threshold required by the NBA to be eligible for postseason awards.
Thatâs a tally that includes San Antonioâs loss to the New York Knicks in the NBA Cup final that doesnât count in the standings but does count toward the 65-game minimum.
Several awards and All-NBA contenders, including JokiÄ, Luka DonÄiÄ, Cade Cunningham and Anthony Edwards, either flirted with or fell short of the 65-game minimum, raising debate about whether the standard is fair. In the end, Wembanyama didnât have to worry about it after reaching the threshold in San Antonioâs penultimate game of the regular season.