Wembanyama wins DPOY

Victor Wembanyama won the NBA’s 2025-26 Defensive Player of the Year award on April 20, becoming the first unanimous winner in the honor’s history. (nba.com) The San Antonio Spurs center is 22, and the league said that makes him the youngest Defensive Player of the Year winner since the award began in 1982-83. Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren and Detroit’s Ausar Thompson were the other finalists. (nba.com) ESPN reported that Wembanyama received all 100 first-place votes from the global media panel, while Holmgren finished second with 239 points and Thompson third with 60. Wembanyama said on NBC Sports Network that he was “super proud to be the first-ever unanimous.” (espn.com) The award closes a two-year climb. Wembanyama finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting as a rookie, then became ineligible last season after missing 36 games, most of them tied to deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder. (nba.com) (espn.com) This season, the Spurs turned his defense into team results. ESPN’s team page lists San Antonio at 62-20, and the club opened the playoffs with a 111-98 Game 1 win over Portland on April 19. (espn.com 1) (espn.com 2) Wembanyama’s regular-season line on ESPN was 25.0 points, 11.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game, and the NBA said he led the league in blocked shots for a third straight season. In Game 1 against the Trail Blazers, he scored 35 points and blocked two shots. (espn.com) (nba.com) The trophy also adds Wembanyama to a short Spurs list. The NBA said San Antonio became the first franchise with four different Defensive Player of the Year winners: Alvin Robertson, David Robinson, Kawhi Leonard and now Wembanyama. (nba.com) Wembanyama is also an NBA Most Valuable Player finalist, according to the league’s award coverage. For a player who entered April with the Spurs back in the postseason, the defense is now on his résumé in formal terms too. (nba.com)