San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet has been a constant for the team all season, stepping up in Victor Wembanyama's absence. He also found himself starting for the All-Star big man on several occasions this season, which he jokingly spoke about on the White Noise podcast.
“Vic was out for a little bit and then he was coming back on a minutes restriction and was coming off the bench,” Kornet said. “And we were performing pretty well. And no one really asked me how I might feel about it. I don’t if you’re familiar with Wally Pipp. It was also funny because there was All-Star stuff going on and it was like I’m the starter on the team. I’ve seen a lot of votes going the other way.”
Wembanyama returned to the Spurs lineup this season after only playing 46 games in the 2024-2025 season due to deep vein thrombosis. He made his presence felt in his third year in the league to start this season, but was derailed a bit because of a calf strain. After being out for a couple of weeks, he came back in time for the In-Season tournament and Christmas Day games versus the Oklahoma City Thunder, but the Spurs coaching staff had him coming off the bench out of an abundance of caution. Instead, Luke Kornet started to properly manage Wembanyama's minutes after the injury.
The Spurs were indeed able to stay competitive in the Western Conference without Wembanyama, bosting a 10-5 record in the 15 games without him this season. Kornet certainly played a part, averaging 6.7 points and 6.2 rebounds on 65% from the floor.
