Victor Wembanyama unanimously named 2025-26 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year — youngest ever

Victor Wembanyama has added another historic honor to his fast-growing resume.

The San Antonio Spurs star was named the 2025-26 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year, the league announced April 20, becoming both the youngest winner in the award’s history and its first unanimous selection. Wembanyama, who was born Jan. 4, 2004, is 22.

According to the NBA’s official voting results, Wembanyama received all 100 first-place votes from a global media panel for the maximum 500 points. The award has been handed out since the 1982-83 season, making this the first unanimous result in more than four decades of Defensive Player of the Year voting. ESPN and The Associated Press also cited Wembanyama as the youngest player ever to win the award.

Wembanyama anchored the Spurs’ defense while leading the NBA in total blocks with 197, according to the league and ESPN’s award coverage. The gap in the voting underscored how decisive his win was: Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren finished second with 239 points, and Detroit’s Ausar Thompson was third with 60.

The award is the latest milestone in a remarkably quick climb for Wembanyama, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft. He was a unanimous NBA Rookie of the Year in 2024, and the NBA said this year’s Defensive Player of the Year honor makes him the first player to win two unanimous regular-season awards.

The league’s historical notes also placed him in rare company beyond the voting result. According to NBA coverage, Wembanyama now joins David Robinson and Michael Jordan as the only players to win both Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.

His selection also added another chapter to San Antonio’s defensive history. With Wembanyama’s win, the Spurs became the first NBA franchise to produce four different Defensive Player of the Year winners, according to the NBA announcement and corroborating coverage from ESPN and the AP. The others were Alvin Robertson, Robinson and Kawhi Leonard.

For a player still only 22, the speed of the achievement stands out almost as much as the result itself. No previous Defensive Player of the Year had won the award before turning 23, according to the NBA and corroborating media coverage, and none had swept the vote.

Wembanyama embraced that distinction in comments after the announcement.

“But I’m super, super happy to win this award and actually super proud to be the first-ever unanimous,” he said.