How latest injury could prevent Victor Wembayama from winning major NBA award

If you looked at most sportsbooks prior to the news breaking that Victor Wembanyama would be sidelined for multiple weeks with a left calf strain, the San Antonio Spurs star center was listed as the odds-on favorite to win the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award for the 2025-26 season.

The third-year player is leading the league in blocks (3.6) and defensive rebounds (10.9) per game, and the Spurs have a top five defense in the league with Wembanyama as the catalyst.

However, thanks to this latest injury, he very well could be robbed of the award, again.

Wembanyama in jeopardy of falling short of 65-game threshold 

A couple years back, the NBA instituted a rule that a player must reach the 65-games played threshold to be eligible for any of the league’s major awards. In other words, 17 games is the most that a player can miss in a season and still be award eligible. The calf injury puts Wembanyama in jeopardy of not reaching that mark.

We don’t know exactly how many games Wembanyama is going to miss due to the injury, and the hope in San Antonio is that he’ll be back sooner rather than later. However, if he does indeed miss a few weeks of action, those absences will pile up rapidly.

The Spurs have six games remaining this month alone. If his absence stretches into December, he’ll hit double digits pretty quickly. And even if Wembanyama returns before he’s statistically disqualified, it won’t leave him much room for error moving forward should any other issues pop up.

Long-term health is obviously the priority for both Wembanyama and the Spurs, who will surely err on the side of caution when it comes to the most important player in the franchise. His health takes precedence over any hardware. That’s a no-brainer. But, it’s still unfortunate that an injury issue could rob Wemby of an award that he deserves for a second consecutive season.  

Last year, Wembanyama was in pole position to win Defensive Player of the Year, but he ended up being limited to just 46 games after being diagnosed with a deep vein thrombosis. 46 is obviously well short of the 65-game threshold.

Since he wasn’t eligible, Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley ended up winning the award for the first time. Mobley is a fine defender, but Wembanyama is the most impactful defensive player in the league and that has been the case for the past couple of seasons. He just doesn’t have the hardware to show for it. His unique combination of size and athleticism makes him one of the most versatile defenders the league has ever seen.

Wembanyama also came close to winning DPOY as a rookie during the 2023-24 season, but he ultimately finished second in voting behind Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert, who won the award for a fourth time, which is tied for the most of all time. Wembanyama has the skill to challenge that record, he just needs health on his side. Unfortunately he hasn't had that thus far.