San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama has made plenty of headlines during his first NBA season. But when the Spurs trailed the Memphis Grizzlies late on Tuesday night, Wembanyama, who had a cap of 24 minutes due to a series of previous ankle injuries, opted to check himself back into the game.
It was certainly a headline-making move by the rookie, and he cleared his 24-minute cap in the game, logging 26 minutes. But he only played about 35 seconds before head coach Gregg Popovich pulled him back out with 1:10 remaining. After the game, Wembanyama admitted he had gone a bit rogue with the move.
“I wasn’t allowed to sub in, but I still did it. And coach sent me out right after,” Wembanayama told Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News.
