San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama was recently named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in a unanimous decision.
Wembanyama is only in his third season in the NBA, and the future looks very bright for the Spurs’ big man. Kendrick Perkins recently spoke about Wembanyama’s defensive play, and he even predicted that Wembanyama would win the next five DPOY awards during an episode of “The Road Trippin’ Show.”
Perkins also called Wembanyama the best defensive player in his lifetime, which is quite a statement.
“To be honest, he’s the best defense I’ve seen with my own eyes in my lifetime,” Perkins said. “I grew up watching Hakeem, I played with Kevin Garnett. I’ve never seen nothing like this…. He’s going to win the next 5 DPOY awards, hands down.”
Kendrick Perkins predicts Victor Wembanyama will win the next 5 DPOY awards:
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) April 23, 2026
“To be honest, he’s the best defense I’ve seen with my own eyes in my lifetime. I grew up watching Hakeem, I played with Kevin Garnett, I’ve witnessed some hell of defenders. I’ve never seen nothing… pic.twitter.com/FC9seN9tWb
Since the DPOY award began in 1982-83, there has never been a player to win the award five straight times.
Ben Wallace won four times in five seasons, and Dwight Howard won threee straight. In recent years, there has been even more winners, and only Rudy Gobert and Kawhi Leonard have won the award twice in a row since 2011.
Victor Wembanyama became the first-ever unanimous winner of the DPOY award, and Oklahoma City Thunder star Chet Holmgren was the only other player to have more than 100 total points, so it wasn’t a close race.
