There had never been a unanimous NBA Defensive Player of the Year. Until now.<\/p>\n
Victor Wembanyama \u2014 as expected \u2014 was announced Monday as the league’s top defensive player. The San Antonio center was second in the voting for DPOY as a rookie, was the favorite last season until a medical condition ended his season prematurely, then left no doubt this year.<\/p>\n
At 22, he’s the youngest winner of the award.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe real struggle might have been getting to 65 games,\u201d Wembanyama said \u2014 referring to the number he needed for award eligibility \u2014 on NBC Sports Network. \u201cBut I\u2019m super, super happy to win this award and actually super proud to be the first-ever unanimous.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren was second and Detroit’s Ausar Thompson was third after both helped their teams secure No. 1 seeds for the playoffs. But this was never in doubt, not after the 7-foot-4 \u2014 or maybe taller \u2014 Wembanyama led the NBA in blocked shots for a third consecutive season and generally terrorized opponents any time they wanted to score.<\/p>\n
\u201cBest player in the world,\u201d Spurs forward Keldon Johnson said.<\/p>\n
The NBA will continue its award announcements Tuesday when the Clutch Player of the Year \u2014 either Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Denver’s Jamal Murray \u2014 is revealed. Wembanyama is also a finalist for MVP, with the winner of that trophy not set to be revealed until next week at the earliest.<\/p>\n
First, the league got this announcement out of the way. And Wembanyama’s win was accompanied by a slew of milestones.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Every other winner of the award had been at least 23. Wembanyama doesn’t turn 23 until next January.<\/p>\n
\u2014 The Spurs became the first franchise with four players to win DPOY, which was first handed out in the 1982-83 season. The others? Alvin Robertson in 1986, David Robinson in 1992 and Kawhi Leonard in 2015 and 2016.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Wembanyama joins Robinson and Michael Jordan as the only players to win both Rookie of the Year and DPOY.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had the chance to have great coaches over my career who have taught me great habits on defense,\u201d Wembanyama said.<\/p>\n
The biggest accomplishment may be this: Wemby got every voter to agree.<\/p>\n
Golden State’s Stephen Curry was the unanimous MVP in 2016 and in the 10 seasons that have followed, there have been only two instances of a player collecting 100% of the first-place votes for an award.<\/p>\n
Those were Wembanyama for Rookie of the Year in 2024, and now this.<\/p>\n
No player in at least the last 50 seasons \u2014 and maybe ever, since it’s hard to say with certainty because some full voting results for awards handed out generations ago are not known publicly \u2014 has won two major individual awards unanimously.<\/p>\n
It’s the 10th known unanimous pick in any vote for MVP, Rookie of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, Most Improved Player, DPOY or Coach of the Year. And some of biggest names, including LeBron James and Michael Jordan, never won a major award unanimously.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like he is one of the hardest workers that I\u2019ve ever been around,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cHe takes his craft very seriously. I feel like this is just a small token of what\u2019s to come for Victor. He\u2019s a special player now. He\u2019s 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\u2019s given to him for Defensive Player of the Year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Holmgren and Thompson both got votes for the first time; a panel of reporters and broadcasters who cover the league were asked to pick their top three in the category, with ballots due last week before the playoffs started.<\/p>\n
Minnesota\u2019s Rudy Gobert \u2014 a four-time DPOY winner \u2014 was fourth, followed, in order, by Toronto\u2019s Scottie Barnes, Boston\u2019s Derrick White, Oklahoma City\u2019s Cason Wallace, Houston\u2019s Amen Thompson, Atlanta\u2019s Dyson Daniels and New York\u2019s OG Anunoby.<\/p>\n
There was a three-way tie for 11th between Detroit\u2019s Jalen Duren, Golden State\u2019s Draymond Green \u2014 the 2017 winner \u2014 and Miami\u2019s Bam Adebayo.<\/p>\n
Wembanyama is an MVP finalist (along with Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning MVP, and three-time winner Nikola Jokic of Denver), which almost certainly means he’ll be an All-NBA first-team selection. And the DPOY win means he’ll also be on the All-Defensive team, so the Frenchman is assured of no fewer than four trophies from this year’s award season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe often overlook the team aspect,\u201d Wembanyama said. \u201cI\u2019m sitting here. I happen to be the guy who\u2019s put in the spotlight, but I am part of a system and I couldn\u2019t get this award and I couldn\u2019t do what I do if it wasn\u2019t for my teammates … and my coaching staff.\u201d<\/p>\n
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AP freelance writer Raul Dominguez contributed to this report.<\/p>\n
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