Some awards recognise greatness. Then there are also moments when an entire league is forced to admit something it can no longer debate.
Just recently, Victor Wembanyama was awarded the Defensive Player of the Year. However, he received all 100 first-place votes, becoming the first unanimous winner in the award’s history.
For a league that has always argued about defence and how to measure it or how to value it, this is the first time there has been no argument about who deserves the award.
A Vote That Ends the Conversation.
The Defensive Player of the Year award has been around since 1983, and in all that time, it has resisted unanimity.
Offence is visible. It is seen through high-scoring games and highlights that are unforgettable. Defence, by contrast, has always been interpretative – split between rim protectors, perimeter stoppers, and system anchors. Some of the biggest names, like Hakeem Olajuwon and Kawhi Leonard, have been recognised as some of the best defenders to play the game, but even then, they have never commanded a complete agreement.
That is what makes this moment so special. Wembanyama didn’t just win the award; he also removed the possibility of disagreement. No one could argue otherwise.
This Season.
This season, he has put up numbers that showcase his brilliance, but they still don’t show the whole story.
He is leading the league in blocks at around 3.1 per game.
He is the anchor to one of the league’s best defences while also averaging 25 points and 11 rebounds.
His opponents barely shot above 40% when challenged by him.
The numbers are great, but there is more to it than just statistics. Possessions bent around him. The 7-foot-4 star forced guards to hesitate mid-drive. Other big men rushed hooks they would normally settle into. Entire offences shifted a step wider, a second earlier, and became a little more uncertain.
He not only defended the space but also began to own it completely. There is the kind of defence that shows up in the numbers, and then there is the kind of defence that completely changes how other teams play, not for the better. Wembanyama lives in the latter.
Whilst he protects the rim excellently like a traditional centre, he also moves like something else entirely. Recovering, contesting, and closing distances that shouldn’t be physically reachable. As well as the fact that he is not afraid to move like a guard with pull-up jumpers, shooting from three, and using his handles to beat players. The effect is disorienting, and the league is starting to accept that this is what elite defence truly is.
San Antonio Again
There is something quite fitting about the fact that Wembanyama is bringing this award with all 100 first-place votes back to San Antonio.
The Spurs have built a quiet dynasty of defensive intelligence, with players like David Robinson and Kawhi Leonard being the architects of discipline and restraint. Now they have another defensive great to add to their list in Wembanyama, who adds a whole other layer of defensive intelligence to the list through his unavoidable presence.
The most interesting part of this is what does this mean for the league going forward? The NBA is, above all else, imitative. It studies dominance and tries to reproduce it. Wembanyama poses a problem to this format as he is not easily replicated.
The league cannot draft another version of him on command, so how will the league respond? Perhaps the league adapts around him. Offences stretch even further, making shots much earlier, or maybe just avoiding him entirely. Whilst he is only 22 years old, Wembanyama has the time to continue to dominate and grow, and the league will have to adapt the way offences run against him.