SAN ANTONIO — Victor Wembanyama reached the 65-game threshold for postseason awards eligibility on Friday with a 40-point outing that included 13 rebounds, five assists and two blocks in a 139-120 win over the Dallas Mavericks.
“I’m sure he’ll be sore tomorrow, but he made it out good,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said.
Returning from a one-game absence after bruising a left rib Monday against Philadelphia, Wembanyama produced his fifth game this season with at least 40 points and 10 rebounds to tie Hall of Famer David Robinson (1993-94) for the most such games in a season in Spurs history. Wembanyama played 26 minutes to help San Antonio improve to 24-3 since the All-Star break.
Wembanyama grimaced in pain at times and placed a hand on his injured rib, but none of that affected his performance. In the first quarter alone, Wembanyama reeled off 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting with five rebounds and a block.
“I tried to protect [the injured rib] as much as possible while still being respectful of the game,” Wembanyama said. “But it was OK. It didn’t bother me that much, just a few times where it was a specific moment or specific hit where it was painful.”
The favorite to win NBA Defensive Player of the Year, Wembanyama expressed relief about reaching the 65-game threshold, calling it “a box that’s [been] checked” while also displaying empathy for players such as Cade Cunningham, Anthony Edwards and Luka Doncic who are ineligible for postseason awards because they haven’t played in enough games (Doncic is expected to appeal) due to injuries.
The Frenchman then quickly turned the tables on the reporters in the room.
“Let me ask you a question,” Wembanyama said. “What percentage of the season do you think should be the [threshold]?”
Reporters tossed out varying answers from 75% of the season to 80%, before one media member suggested that no threshold for games should exist because the number of games played doesn’t necessarily measure a player’s impact.
“I think that’s a good way to put it,” Wembanyama said. “Because a guy that plays 50 games, 35 minutes a game, that’s 50 times 35. That’s 1,750 [minutes], right? And if a guy plays 75 games at 20 minutes, it’s 1,500 [minutes].”
The 22-year-old calculated the math in his head just as quickly as he spoke.
“It’s a good view in my opinion to not have a limit,” he said. “It’s one opinion. Seventy-five percent of the games, in my opinion, would be a logical thing. That would be 61.5 games, right? So, 62 games? There’s some interesting questions. I don’t think there’s going to be an exception made for this year. I think it would be somewhat unfair. But we’ll see how it turns out.”
