The accolade, announced Monday night, represents Wemby’s first major NBA end-of-year honor as the Spurs embark on their new playoff run
SAN ANTONIO — As they await tipoff of Game 2 in the first round of playoff action, the Spurs can now celebrate a major reason they find themselves in the position of title contenders this year.
Victor Wembanyama, the team’s 7-foot-4 shot-blocking maestro, was announced as the 2025-2026 NBA Defensive Player of the Year on Monday evening. He beat the other finalists, Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren and Detroit’s Ausar Thompson, to become the accolade’s first unanimous awardee.
It’s the Spurs star’s first major NBA end-of-year honor after he secured eligibility in the penultimate game of the regular season.
He also officially became the youngest player in league history to win Defensive Player of the Year, which has been handed out every year since the 1982-83 campaign, and the fourth Spur to be honored after Alvin Robertson (1985-86), David Robinson (1991-92) and Kawhi Leonard (2014-15, 2014-16).
“I’m super proud,” Wembanyama said on the Peacock broadcast after what many deemed to be inevitable was made official.
He also, in typical Wemby fashion, was quick to praise his teammates and coaches.
“I am part of a system,” he said. “I couldn’t get this award, I couldn’t do what I do if it wasn’t for my teammates that do the rotations and allow me to be in the spotlight.”
Wembanyama averaged 3.1 blocks per game this season to lead the NBA; no other player averaged more than 1.9. Officially, he swatted 197 shots in all this year – 44 more than Indiana’s Jay Huff, who finished in second place – while cementing his reputation as a terror for opposing scorers daring to enter the paint.
He finished with five or more blocks 17 times in the regular season, as the Spurs fought their way to a 62-20 mark and the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. And, capping his resume, Wembanyama was named the Western Conference’s Defensive Player of the Month three times this season, in January, February and March.
Wembanyama likely would have won the award last year, when he finished with a league-leading 176 blocks despite playing in just 46 games. But his blood clots diagnosis ended his season after the All-Star Break and prevented him from reaching the 65-game threshold for the chance to win awards.
Regardless, he’s already etched himself into the history books.
Per the NBA, Wemby is just the third player in history to lead the league in blocks in three straight seasons. The others: Marcus Camby and Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo, who each led the league for a four-season stretch in the 2000s and 90s, respectively. And his 627 career blocks is already fifth all-time in Spurs history; so long as he stays healthy, he’ll likely enter top-three territory next year. He is just 73 blocks away from tying Artis Gilmore for third all-time for a Spurs player.
San Antonio players have now been named the league’s best defender five different times—tied for fifth all-time with Utah, and behind only Detroit. The Pistons’ Ben Wallace is one of only three players, along with Dikembe Mutombo and Rudy Gobert, to have won Defensive Player of the Year four times.
This might not be the only hardware Wembanyama has to make room on his shelf for. The 22-year-old star is also nominated for Most Valuable Player. The NBA hasn’t announced when that winner will be determined.
Meanwhile, Keldon Johnson and Mitch Johnson are up for Sixth Man of the Year and Coach of the Year, respectively. The Sixth Man of the Year winner will be announced at 5 p.m. Wednesday on ESPN.
The awards are determined by a panel of about 100 sportswriters and broadcasters in the U.S. and Canada who cover the league.
Wembanyama finished with two blocks in Monday’s Game 1 win over the Portland Trail Blazers, the Spurs’ first playoffs victory in seven years. Game 2 tips off Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Frost Bank Center.