Victor Wembanyama has done something no NBA player has accomplished before. The San Antonio Spurs center became the league's first-ever unanimous defensive player of the year on Monday, a historic achievement that comes at just 22 years old.
Every single voter agreed Wembanyama deserved the award, a rarity in professional basketball voting. His dominance on the defensive end this season left no room for debate. The 7-foot-4 French star led the NBA in blocked shots for the third straight year and repeatedly shut down opponents at the rim.
"The real struggle might have been getting to 65 games," Wembanyama said on NBC Sports Network, referring to the games-played threshold needed for eligibility. "But I'm super, super happy to win this award and actually super proud to be the first-ever unanimous."
His path to this moment was unconventional. Last season, an unspecified medical condition ended his campaign prematurely, robbing him of what many expected would be his first DPOY win. As a rookie, he finished second in voting. This year, there was no uncertainty.
Oklahoma City's Chet Holmgren came in second in the voting, while Detroit's Ausar Thompson placed third. Both players had helped their teams secure the No. 1 seeds in the playoffs, but neither came close to matching Wembanyama's support from voters.
The Spurs forward became the youngest ever to win the award. The previous record holder was at least 23 years old. Wembanyama won't turn 23 until next January.
His defensive player of the year honor joins an exclusive club. Wembanyama now stands alongside Michael Jordan and David Robinson as the only players to win both rookie of the year and DPOY. Robinson, who spent much of his Hall of Fame career with San Antonio, won the award in 1992.
The Spurs have now produced four DPOY winners since the award debuted in the 1982-83 season. Besides Robinson and Wembanyama, Alvin Robertson won it in 1986 and Kawhi Leonard claimed back-to-back titles in 2015 and 2016. No other franchise has matched that haul.
Universal agreement on major NBA awards is exceedingly rare. Stephen Curry achieved it for MVP in 2016. In the decade that followed, only two players collected 100 percent of first-place votes for a major award: Wembanyama won it for rookie of the year last season, and now he's done it again.
Wembanyama is also a finalist for the regular MVP award, alongside Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Denver's three-time winner Nikola Jokic. The MVP winner will be announced next week. His DPOY status almost certainly locks him into the All-NBA first team and All-Defensive selections, guaranteeing him four major awards from this season's ceremony.
When accepting his honor, Wembanyama credited his support system. "I feel like he is one of the hardest workers that I've ever been around," Spurs forward Keldon Johnson said of his teammate. "He takes his craft very seriously."
Author James Rodriguez: "In a league obsessed with offensive firepower, Wembanyama just proved that suffocating defense can command every voter's respect."
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