San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama became the youngest player to become the Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) after the NBA announced he won the award over Chet Holmgren and Ausar Thompson with a historic unanimous 100 first-place votes.
Wembanyama averaged 25.0 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.0 steals and 3.6 blocks per game in a phenomenal season defensively, leading the Spurs to a 63-19 record and the No. 2 seed in the West.
The Spurs center spoke to NBA on NBC after the announcement was confirmed, sending a blunt message regarding the challenge of playing 65 games being greater than putting up the performances needed to win this award in such a dominant fashion.
"It feels great. My mom is sitting here next to me. The real struggle may have been getting to 65 games. But I am super happy to win this award, and super proud to be the first-ever unanimous."
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Wembanyama finished in second place behind Rudy Gobert in DPOY voting in his rookie 2023-24 season. He didn't play enough games to be eligible last season, so the all-time defensive prospect has finally secured his first award win in his third NBA season.
The votes going unanimously in his favor indicate what might be the beginning of Wembanyama's domination of this award. His ability to protect the paint with his 7'4" height and 8'0" wingspan can't even decline with age, so for as long as Wembanyama is in the NBA, he'll be an elite defensive center.
Wembanyama's performances this season have also earned him a nomination for the MVP award. He joins Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as the finalists for MVP, with the decision announcement scheduled for April 24.
The Spurs and Wembanyama will be solely focusing on the NBA Playoffs, currently holding a 1-0 series lead over the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round. Wembanyama put up 35 points, five rebounds and two blocks in his NBA Playoff debut, hoping to translate his regular-season success to the grandest stage of the basketball world.
He'll be in action next on Tuesday, April 21, for Game 2 against the Blazers.
