Victor Wembanyama becomes NBA’s first unanimous Defensive Player of the Year winner

SAN ANTONIO — Victor Wembanyama was asked recently if he would be surprised if he did not soon become the NBA’s first unanimous Defensive Player of the Year winner.

“Yes, I would,” he said.

He was not surprised Monday evening.

The 7-foot-4 San Antonio Spurs big man won the NBA’s 2026 Defensive Player of the Year award, earning all 100 first-place votes from a panel of select media members. The 22-year-old beat out Oklahoma City Thunder big man Chet Holmgren and Detroit Pistons wing Ausar Thompson to become the youngest player to win the award since it was introduced for the 1982-83 season.

Holmgren finished second with 76 second-place votes and 11 third-place votes, followed by Thompson, Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert and Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes.

Following the announcement, Wembanyama joined the “NBC Showtime” pregame show alongside his mother, Elodie, and the Spurs’ defensive coordinator, Sean Sweeney.

“It feels great. My mom is sitting here next to me and said something really true,” Wembanyama said on the broadcast. “The real struggle might have been getting to 65 games. But I’m super happy to win this award and super proud to be the first-ever unanimous.”

This was a widely expected outcome once Wembanyama crossed the minimum games played threshold to become eligible for the award. (He played in 64 regular-season games and the NBA Cup final, which counted as his 65th game for award eligibility.)

He averaged a league-leading 3.1 blocks per game this season, and the Spurs allowed 10.2 fewer points per 100 possessions with him on the floor. Opponents shot just 40.7 percent from the field against him and 8.7 percentage points worse than average when he was the closest defender, according to NBA stats, both the best in the league among those who contested at least 500 shots this season. He joined Dikembe Mutombo and Marcus Camby as the only players to lead the NBA in blocks for three straight seasons.

But data can only do so much to capture his defensive impact. Watching even a few moments of him on the floor makes it obvious just how much he distorts opposing offenses.

“To sit and say today that my defense is more impactful than Victor Wembanyama, I think that would be a lie, and I’ve never been one to not be honest,” said Golden State Warriors big man Draymond Green, a former Defensive Player of the Year and nine-time All-Defense selection. “I wouldn’t put myself above him, but I wouldn’t put myself below anyone.”

The Spurs built a defensive system around Wembanyama that allows him to effectively play zone around the paint, taking the “low man” position of patrolling the rim to new heights. Offensive players will often drive toward him, then turn all the way around in plays that have at times been referred to as “Nopes,” “Neverminds” or other terms never used for his peers. These nightly occurrences are the greatest examples of how his defense is about his sheer presence.

“I happen to be the guy that is in the spotlight,” Wembanyama said Monday. “But I am part of the system.”

When campaigning for the MVP award in March, Wembanyama’s first core tenet was that defense is 50 percent of the game.

“My first one would be that defense is 50 percent of the game and that it is undervalued so far in the MVP race,” he said. “I believe I’m the most impactful player defensively in the league.”

Wembanyama had the most blocks in a game this season, with nine, and had two games with 10 combined blocks and steals (stocks). Miami Heat center Kel’el Ware was the only other player to have even one double-digit stocks game.

When discussing his prolific block rate, which underrates his defensive impact because many players avoid shooting at all when he is lurking nearby, Wembanyama was smiling as he recalled his offseason visit to the home of the namesake of the trophy he just won, Hakeem Olajuwon.

“(I) was looking at this plaque that said blocked shots leader of all time, and he said, ‘You’re gonna beat that one day,’” Wembanyama said. “One step at a time.”