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Michael C. Wright
multiple authors
San Antonio — San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama capturing the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award on Monday night, setting the 7-foot-4 player on the path he predicted for himself as a rookie.
just before fellow french Rudy Gobert After Wembanyama won the DPOY for the fourth time at the end of his rookie season in 2024, the then-20-year-old said in French that Gobert’s days of winning the award were numbered.
“I know Rudy has a very good chance to win it this year, and he’ll deserve it,” Vembanyama said. “Let him win now, because after that, it’s not his turn.”
Wembanyama became the youngest DPOY winner at the age of 22 and the first person to win the award unanimously. He is also San Antonio’s first DPOY winner since former Spurs star kawhi leonard captured the award in back-to-back seasons (2014–15 and 2015–16), a trend Wembanyama hopes to reestablish, perhaps with even more consecutive wins.
Vembanyama earned all 100 first place votes for the award. Chet Holmgren of Oklahoma City finished second with 76 second-place votes. Detroit’s Ausar Thompson finished third.
Before becoming the first unanimous winner of the Wembanyama Award, Ben Wallace (2001–02) was the closest to achieving this feat, when he received 116 of the 120 first-place votes, with Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and Dikembe Mutombo combining for the remaining votes.
It took Vembanyama a year longer than expected to win his first DPOY due to ineligibility for the awards last season, as he missed 36 games, most of which stemmed from a diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder. Now, it seems like it’s time to start bringing in some hardware for Vembanyama.
Vembanayama is also a finalist for the NBA’s Most Valuable Player Award Shai Gilgeous-Alexander And Nikola Jokic.
“everything that [he’s] What has been achieved so far has been earned and never given,” the teammate said keldon johnsonFinalist for NBA Sixth Man of the Year. “He’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever seen in my life. He takes his craft very seriously and I think that’s a small nod to Victor. He’s a special player on the court and an even more special person off the court.”
In addition to recording 66 steals as the defensive anchor for a Spurs team that finished with the league’s second-best defensive rating (110.4), Wembanyama led the NBA in blocks (197) for the second consecutive season. Vembanayama ranks fourth in rebounding (11.5 per game) and second to Jokic in defensive rebounding (9.5 per game).
“Vic is very different from a normal defender,” teammate stephen castle Said. “Most of the time when someone wins Defensive Player of the Year it’s more like team defense and obviously, you have to be a great defender as well. But I feel like for Vick, he could have won it on any team in the league.”
Vembanyama recorded two blocks in his playoff debut on Sunday portland trail blazers. According to ESPN Research, when Wembanyama was a competitive defender, Portland’s shooters went scoreless on 11 attempts.
“He also stops people from shooting the ball,” Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox Said. “You talk about guys who change shots. He literally knocks guys out shooting the ball, too. They’ll see him there and dribble the ball out or kick it out. He changes the whole dynamics of your defense, and he changes the dynamics of the other team’s offense.”
Wembanyama finished second to Gobert in DPOY voting as a rookie, in only the second season he was eligible.
When asked after his final game of the regular season if he would be surprised if he did not win the award unanimously, Wembanyama did not hesitate.
“Yes, I will,” he said.
