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Important update on 1476AMWembanyama makes history with NBA defensive player of the year award
Tim Reynolds • April 21st, 2026 11:35 am
Victor Wembanyama | Photo: AAP
There had never been a unanimous NBA defensive player of the year, until now.
Victor Wembanyama — as expected — was announced on Tuesday (NZ time) as the league's top defensive player. The San Antonio centre was second in the voting for DPOY as a rookie, was the favourite last season until a medical condition ended his season prematurely, then left no doubt this year.
At 22, he's the youngest winner of the award.
"The real struggle might have been getting to 65 games," Wembanyama said — referring to the number he needed for award eligibility.
"But I'm super, super happy to win this award and actually super proud to be the first-ever unanimous."
Oklahoma City's Chet Holmgren and Detroit's Ausar Thompson were the other finalists, after both helped their teams secure No.1 seeds for the playoffs. But this was never in doubt, not after the 7-foot-4 — or maybe taller — Wembanyama led the NBA in blocked shots for a third consecutive season.
"Best player in the world," Spurs forward Keldon Johnson said.
The NBA will continue its award announcements on Tuesday when the Clutch Player of the Year — either Minnesota's Anthony Edwards, Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Denver's Jamal Murray — is revealed. Wembanyama is also a finalist for MVP, with the winner of that trophy not set to be revealed until next week at the earliest.
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"I've had the chance to have great coaches over my career who have taught me great habits on defence," Wembanyama added.
"I happen to be the guy who's put in the spotlight, but I am part of a system and I couldn't get this award and I couldn't do what I do if it wasn't for my teammates ... and my coaching staff."
The biggest accomplishment may be this: Wemby got everybody to agree.
Golden State's Stephen Curry was the unanimous MVP in 2016 and in the 10 seasons that have followed, there have been only two instances of a player collecting 100 per cent of the first-place votes for an award.
Those were Wembanyama for Rookie of the Year in 2024 and now this.
It's the 10th known unanimous pick in any NBA awards vote for MVP, Rookie of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, Most Improved Player, DPOY or Coach of the Year. And some of biggest names like LeBron James and Michael Jordan never won a major award by unanimous decision.
Wembanyama is an MVP finalist (along with Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning MVP, and the Nuggets' three-time winner Nikola Jokic), which almost certainly means he'll be an All-NBA first-team selection. And the DPOY win means he'll also be on the All-Defensive team, so Wembanyama is assured of no fewer than four trophies from this year's award season.
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