NBA history was made Monday when Victor Wembanyama achieved something no player had ever done before: earning every single vote for Defensive Player of the Year.
The San Antonio Spurs center’s unanimous selection was widely anticipated after a dominant defensive season. The 7-foot-4 phenom previously finished runner-up for the award as a rookie and was favored to win last season before a medical issue cut his campaign short.
Wembanyama, who won’t turn 23 until January, becomes the youngest player ever to claim the defensive honor.
“The real struggle might have been getting to 65 games,” Wembanyama said on NBC Sports Network, referencing the minimum games required for award consideration. “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 finished second in voting, while Detroit’s Ausar Thompson took third place, both helping their teams earn top playoff seeds. However, the outcome was never truly in question after Wembanyama dominated shot-blocking statistics for his third straight season and consistently disrupted opposing offenses.
“Best player in the world,” declared Spurs teammate Keldon Johnson.
The league will announce its Clutch Player of the Year award Tuesday, with finalists including Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Denver’s Jamal Murray. Wembanyama also remains in contention for MVP, with that announcement scheduled for next week at the earliest.
Monday’s announcement brought several historic milestones along with Wembanyama’s victory.
Previous winners had all been at least 23 years old when they claimed the award, making Wembanyama the youngest by nearly a full year.
The Spurs organization now boasts four different Defensive Player of the Year winners since the award’s inception in 1982-83. Alvin Robertson won in 1986, David Robinson in 1992, and Kawhi Leonard captured back-to-back honors in 2015 and 2016.
Wembanyama joins Robinson and Michael Jordan as the only players in league history to win both Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year during their careers.
“I’ve had the chance to have great coaches over my career who have taught me great habits on defense,” Wembanyama said.
Perhaps most remarkably, Wembanyama achieved complete consensus among voters – a rare feat in professional sports awards.
Stephen Curry’s unanimous MVP selection in 2016 was the last time every voter agreed on a major award. In the decade since, only two other instances of 100% first-place vote agreement have occurred: Wembanyama’s Rookie of the Year win in 2024 and now this defensive honor.
No player in at least five decades has claimed two major individual awards unanimously, making Wembanyama’s achievement even more extraordinary. Historical voting records show this level of consensus is unprecedented, with even legendary players like LeBron James and Michael Jordan never achieving unanimous recognition for major awards.
The unanimous selection represents just the tenth known instance across all major NBA awards including MVP, Rookie of the Year, Sixth Man, Most Improved Player, Defensive Player of the Year, and Coach of the Year.
“I feel like he is one of the hardest workers that I’ve ever been around,” Johnson said. “He takes his craft very seriously. I feel like this is just a small token of what’s to come for Victor. He’s a special player now. He’s a special player on the court and even more special person off the court as well. This is just a small token, small flowers that’s given to him for Defensive Player of the Year.”
Both Holmgren and Thompson received their first career votes for the award. A panel of league reporters and broadcasters submitted ballots ranking their top three choices, with voting completed before playoff action began.
Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert, a four-time winner, placed fourth in this year’s voting. The remaining top ten included Toronto’s Scottie Barnes, Boston’s Derrick White, Oklahoma City’s Cason Wallace, Houston’s Amen Thompson, Atlanta’s Dyson Daniels, and New York’s OG Anunoby.
Detroit’s Jalen Duren, Golden State’s Draymond Green (2017 winner), and Miami’s Bam Adebayo shared eleventh place in the final tally.
As an MVP finalist alongside Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and three-time winner Nikola Jokic of Denver, Wembanyama appears likely to earn All-NBA first-team recognition. Combined with his guaranteed All-Defensive team selection, the French star will collect at least four major honors from this award season.
“We often overlook the team aspect,” Wembanyama said. “I’m sitting here. 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.”
