The NBA’s regular-season awards do more than hand out trophies. They help define the season, spotlight the players who shaped it and, in some cases, mark the beginning of a new era.
With more honors scheduled to be announced throughout the week, this running tracker will be updated as each winner is revealed.
Defensive Player of the Year: Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs
France’s Victor Wembanyama is the NBA’s 2025-26 Defensive Player of the Year, giving the Spurs star his first major regular-season award and another milestone in a career that is moving fast. At 22-years-old, he is the youngest player to win Defensive Player of the Year, and he is also the first unanimous winner in the award’s history.
This places Wembanyama, alongside some of the league’s best defenders, including Hakeem Olajuwon, Dikembe Mutombo, Ben Wallace, Kawhi Leonard, Draymond Green, Rudy Gobert, Marcus Smart, and many more. Gobert, Mutombo and Wallace are tied for the most DPOY wins with four each.
For Wembanyama, the win feels less like a surprise than a checkpoint on his NBA journey. This once in a lifetime talent, representing the next generation of the NBA and its international influence, has already become the kind of defender who erases the easy shot, cleans up mistakes, and makes teams rethink how they want to attack the paint. Now he has the award to prove it.
The NBA will announce additional awards throughout the week: Clutch Player, Sixth Man, Sportsmanship, and Most Improved. The MVP is typically announced mid-March