The San Antonio Spurs have been very cautious with first overall pick Victor Wembanyama. In addition to monitoring his minutes early on in his career, the French phenom has missed a handful of games this season due to injury. Wembanyama suffered an ankle sprain a few weeks ago, which has resulted in the Spurs keeping the 20-year-old on the bench when playing back-to-backs. On Friday night, the Spurs will be on the road to take on the Charlotte Hornets. In the midst of a five-game East Coast road trip, San Antonio will have a quick turnaround for their next game against the Washington Wizards on Saturday. This has led everyone to ask the question: Is Victor Wembanyama playing on Friday night vs. the Hornets?
Victor Wembanyama status vs. Hornets
Unfortunately, if you were looking forward to seeing Wembanyama play on Friday night, you are going to have to wait an extra day to see him play. The Spurs have already ruled Wemby out against the Hornets for rest as a result of the team facing a back-to-back scenario. Wembanyama has not played in back-to-back games in consecutive days since November 17-18, prior to his right ankle sprain.
Although he is young, the Spurs are not willing to risk overworking their young star, especially since he is going to be the cornerstone of their franchise for at least the next decade. Very early on in his career, Wembanyama has already left his mark on the NBA. In addition to recording 20-point, 20-rebound games and 16 games with at least four blocks, the most in the league, Wemby also made history with a triple-double against the Detroit Pistons last week.
The Spurs rookie played just 21 minutes against Detroit, recording 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists. Wembamyama became the youngest center in NBA history to record a triple-double, according to StatMuse. The most impressive feat for Wemby in this game was the fact that he had zero turnovers.
The favorite for this season's Rookie of the Year award, Wembanyama has played in 35 of the Spurs' 40 games so far this season. Starting in all 35 games he has played in, the young star has averaged 19.8 points, 10.1 rebounds, and a league-high 3.1 blocks per game. Recently, Wembanyama ranked eighth out of all Western Conference frontcourt players in the final NBA All-Star Game fan voting results.
With Wembamnyama out of the lineup on Friday night, the Spurs will need to turn to Sandro Mamukelashvili and Zach Collins for frontcourt production. However, Collins is currently listed as questionable to play since he is still nursing a right ankle injury. Due to the fact that he is sitting out on Friday night, it is safe to assume that Wembanyama will be back in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Wizards.
So, when it comes to the question of whether Victor Wembamyama is playing tonight vs. the Hornets, the Spurs will be holding their young star out of the lineup due to having back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday.
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