Spurs' Victor Wembanyama Makes NBA History With Major Award Win
As the playoffs are underway, the NBA is handing out awards for the past season, with the San Antonio Spurs‘ Victor Wembanyama up for several of them.
The former No. 1 NBA Draft pick has turned heads with his impressive performances in his first several seasons, with this season becoming a breakout one for him. The 7-foot-4 center achieved career-high averages with 25 points and 11.5 rebounds per game.
Those numbers, combined with his three blocks and one steal per game, helped him continue his dominance on both ends of the court. All of them combined brought him into the conversation for the NBA Most Valuable Player award, along with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic.
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However, his defensive dominance helped him achieve the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, ESPN’s Shams Charania announced on Monday. At 22, he becomes the youngest player to win the award in league history.
And Wemby has been racking up his awards and achievements. In addition to winning DPOY this year, he’s the 2024 NBA Rookie of the Year, a two-time NBA All-Star, and a three-time NBA blocks leader.
His early rise to prominence in his three seasons in the league shows that he’s got a lot more of those awards to come, including Most Valuable Player, and potentially NBA Finals MVPs with championship rings.
The Spurs selected Wemby first overall in 2023 from France, and he's already paying dividends. San Antonio, with a young, talented roster, reached the NBA Playoffs this season as the No. 2 seed in the competitive Western Conference.
They jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first round of their series against the Portland Trail Blazers with a 111-98 win. Wembanyama led the way with 35 points, five rebounds, and two blocks.
Wemby and the Spurs return to their home court for Game 2 in San Antonio on Tuesday night, starting at 8 p.m. Eastern Time, and there aren’t many people who expect the Blazers to pose a challenge.
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This story was originally published April 20, 2026 at 7:17 PM.