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Victor Wembanyama was benched by the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night. The decision was a wise one.
As the veteran center dominated a shorthanded Los Angeles Lakers team, there wasn’t any reason for Wembanyama to continue playing other than to pad his own stats.
Why the Spurs Benched Wembanyama
Some stars might take issue with a little old-school load management. Wembanyama wanted to continue competing, but he admitted that his coaches made the right call at the end of the day.
"I was also pushing to go back, but I mean, they did the right thing by keeping me on the bench," Wembanyama said, according to ESPN.
"We got to think long term. But yeah, these kind of games, you got to have the greed. I mean, every game you have to have this greed to want more every time, because you know at all times it doesn't matter who's on the court, it's somebody who's going to want to stop you from doing what you do out there. So you got to be greedy."
Victor Wembanyama Stats vs Los Angeles Lakers
- 26 minutes
- 13-20 FG
- 40 points
- 12 rebounds
- 2 assists
- 2 steals
- 1 block
In just a few quarters? Video game numbers for the young veteran.
The Spurs were clearly running away with Wednesday’s game. They didn’t have an answer for Wemby, who faced LA without its top center Deandre Ayton. The stars LeBron James and Luka Doncic were also out, causing the Lakers to lack that scoring punch that could potentially match the star center’s production.
San Antonio defeated the Lakers 136-108. With that win, the Spurs advance to 37-16 on the year. Wembanyama continues to flash dominance as the league enters its All-Star break. Fortunately, Wembanyama is going in healthy this time around.
The star center appeared in his 39th game on Wednesday. This year, he’s averaging under 30 minutes of action, producing 24.4 points per game, and making 51 percent of his field goals. He’s putting up a double-double with 11.1 rebounds per game and dishing out 2.7 assists.
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