Victor Wembanyama Winning DPOY Unanimously Was the Only Reasonable Outcome
Story by:
Chris Guest
Victor Wembanyama winning the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award unanimously in 2026 was not just the correct result. It was the only result that made any real sense.
Every season, awards debates get dragged into a murky swamp. Somebody wants to overthink the criteria, or turn “value” into a team-record argument, or start hunting for a more interesting pick because the obvious one feels boring. This one did not need that treatment. Wembanyama was the best defensive player in basketball, everyone knew it, and the voters thankfully did not talk themselves out of the truth. On April 20, 2026, he became the first unanimous DPOY in league history. That says less about a surprise breakthrough than it does about how overwhelming the case was.
Why Victor Wembanyama Was the Only Real DPOY Choice
The easy headline is the blocks, because that is what people see first. Wembanyama led the league in blocked shots for the third straight season, which is even more stunning when you realize he only played 46 games in 2024-25 and 64 games this year. Going into more detail on his blocks: his current 9.9% career block rate would shatter the all-time record, which sits at 7.83% by Shawn Bradley, per Basketball Reference. Beyond that, according to Bball Index, Wemby was tops in the league in points saved in October, February, March, and April – and he was in the 86th percentile and above each month of the season.
Of course, the numbers are just the tip of the iceberg. When watching Wemby, he simply does the kind of stuff that makes highlight packages seem AI-generated. He erases shots that look open, including shots and floaters that are rarely even effectively contested, let alone outright blocked, recovers ground most defenders cannot even imagine covering, and makes decent offensive possessions seem like the wrong choice. But the bigger point is that his defense is not just loud and crammed with highlights. It is omnipresent. He changes what teams are willing to attempt in the first place, which is the mark of a true defensive titan.
That is why the unanimity of the DPOY vote feels right. Not because there weren’t other strong defensive seasons, but because nobody else had a serious argument once you really honed on in their overall cases. Chet Holmgren finished second and Ausar Thompson finished third, which is fair enough as a ballot result, but neither had Wembanyama’s week-to-week grip on games or his complete command as a back-line destroyer. He is not just a rim protector; Wemby represents the Spurs’ entire defensive system. He cleans up mistakes, discourages drives, blows up lobs, and lets everyone around him play more aggressively because there is a seven-foot-four escape hatch waiting behind them.
Why the Unanimous Vote Actually Got It Right
There is also something refreshing about voters not trying to get cute. Sports media loves an argument, sometimes to the point of inventing one. This was one of those years where the cleanest answer was the smartest answer. San Antonio won 62 games and finished second in the Western Conference, so this was not some empty-stats exercise on a team going nowhere. Wembanyama anchored one of the league’s most terrifying defenses (3rd in defensive rating per Basketball Reference) while turning his own end of the floor into a no-fly zone. When the best defender passes both the eye test and the team-success test, there is only one answer: Wemby is simply in his own galaxy when it comes to NBA defenders.
What makes this even more ridiculous is his age. At 22, Wembanyama already has a unanimous Rookie of the Year and now a unanimous Defensive Player of the Year, and he’s already on the short list of players who have won both ROY and DPOY. That is not a normal career progression. That is franchise-altering, league-bending stuff. The scary part is that he still feels ahead of schedule. He is already the most intimidating defender in basketball, and it is not hard to imagine him getting even better at the quieter parts of the job: anticipation, leverage, timing, and the kind of psychological warfare that great defenders play possession after possession—though it’s something he’s already adept it simply due to his sheer size, length, and preternatural closing ability.
So yes, unanimous was right. It was deserved. It was overdue in the sense that the award had never before found a season this cleanly dominated by one player on that end of the floor. More than anything, it was one of those rare sports moments where the final vote actually matched reality. No contrarian detours. No fake suspense. Just the obvious answer, staring everyone in the face.
Victor Wembanyama was the 2025-26 Defensive Player of the Year in the NBA. Everybody knew it. And, for once, everybody voted like it too.
Looking for other playoff debutantes?
Wemby is making his playoff debut in the 2026 NBA Playoffs, but so are some other notable players. Check out our roundup of the 6 most interesting playoff first-timers this postseason.
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