Chet Holmgren Finishes Runner Up For Defensive Player of Year Award

The Oklahoma City Thunder saw Chet Holmgren finish runner-up for the Defensive Player of the Year honor.

Apr 8, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Holmgren (7) reaches in front of Los Angeles Clippers center Brook Lopez (11) for a rebound in the first half at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Chet Holmgren is an elite defender, no one can question that. So when the NBA announced Sunday afternoon that the Thunder's All-Star big man was a finalist for the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award no one batted an eye.

Joining him as finalist were San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama and Detroit Pistons swingman Ausar Thompson. Wembanyama, after making himself eligible for award's by satisfying the 65 games played rule during the last week of the regular season, was considered a lock for the honor.

On Monday, the NBA announced that Wembanyama did in fact take home his first Defensive Player of the Year award. He is the youngest player to take home the Defensive Player of the year honor and the first player to take home the award within his first three seasons. The last? A former San Antonio Star, David Robinson.

Though, everyone acknowledges how special Holmgren is on the defensive side of the floor. Elite in the pick-and-roll, able to switch out and defend in space while also providing top notch rim protections and controling the paint for Oklahoma City's top flight defense.

Holmgren finished as the runner up for the Defensive Player of the Year honor. Wembanyama won the award with all 100 first place votes. This marks the first unanimous winner since the league created the Defensive Player of the Year honor back in 1982-83.

The Oklahoma City Thunder big man finished with 72 second place votes and 11 third place selections.

Chet Holmgren finished second for DPOY. pic.twitter.com/K1YLgERMR2

— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) April 20, 2026

What is shocking isn't that the NBA award went without question to Wembanyama but rather that somehow, Holmgren was only on 87 out of the 100 ballots. That is a travesity and a shame on those trusted to vote on this honor. It is unjustifible to not vote for the Thunder big man in your top three of the Defensive Player of the Year honor.

However, what this does tell us is that Holmgren is a lock for the first team All-Defensive honors in all likihood. If 87 voters have Holmgren as a top three defender in the entire league, he surely gets one of the five first team slots alongside Wembanyama in the position-less ballot.

In addition to Holmgren, Thunder defensive ace Cason Wallace finished seventh in Defensive Player of the Year voting, seeing two second place votes as many third place votes cast for him.

Thompson, the third finalist for the hardware only gained nine second place votes with 33 third place ballots cast for him.

The Oklahoma City Thunder saw Holmgren anchor a championship defense last June and are hoping to enjoy that same fate this year aas the team attempts to go back to back.