For the first time in his career, Victor Wembanyama is the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year, winning the fifth award in the San Antonio Spurs franchise history.
For the first time in his career, Victor Wembanyama is the NBA Defensive Player of the Year. He joins Alvin Robertson, David Robinson, and Kawhi Leonard (2x) as the fourth player to take home DPOTY honors while suiting up for the San Antonio Spurs.
Drafted first overall in large part thanks to his defensive dominance, Wembanyama wasted no time in making his mark felt. In his first season, he became the first rookie to ever make the All-Defensive First Team, and gave Rudy Gobert a run for his money, finishing second in DPOTY voting.
Heading into last season, the award seemed to be Wembanyama's to lose, although his blood clot diagnosis ended his season early. Still, he led the league in total blocks last season, but had to wait for this year to finally get his hardware.
At 22 years old, he is the youngest DPOTY ever, breaking Evan Mobley's record set last season.
Wemby's Defensive Dominance Is Just Getting Started
Even as he lost DPOTY in 2024 to Gobert, it was clear that Wembanyama was the most dominant individual defender in the league. He has averaged 3.6, 2.8, and 3.1 blocks per game in each of his three seasons, leading the league every year, and has posted the most total blocks in the NBA, as well.
Entering his third season, he was the heavy frontrunner to win the award, provided he could stay healthy throughout the season. He just narrowly met the 65-game threshold, but as soon as it was clear that he would finish out the campaign, his odds skyrocketed. The other two finalists, Chet Holmgren and Ausar Thompson, were included as a formality more than anything.
Wembanyama entered the season with -175 odds to win, further illustrating that the race was never really in doubt. While his blocks per game have decreased heavily from his first two seasons, it's only because opponents have stopped trying to score in the paint. When he is on the floor, opponents have a true shooting percentage of below 50 percent, lower than even the worst offensive teams in the league.
As evidenced by his league-best defensive plus/minus and defensive rating, his impact goes well beyond just counting stats, although he dominates there, as well. It's why, by the end of the season, his odds jumped to -20000.
Gobert, Ben Wallace, and Dikembe Mutombo all boast four DPOTY throughout their careers, and the trophy awarded to the winner is named after Hakeem Olajuwon. By the time Wembanyama retires, he is expected to hold the record by himself, and it's hard to imagine anyone else rivaling him for years to come, provided he can stay healthy.