As ABC gets set to televise midweek NBA games, a Victor Wembanyama-Chet Holmgren match-up this month has been stripped. The league and the San Antonio Spurs announced that the January 24 contest in the Alamo City against the Oklahoma City Thunder will instead air on ABC's sister network, ESPN. The game time has been changed as well. It will now start at 8:30 pm CT. Locally in San Antonio, it can also be watched on CW35.

It's a match-up that would feature the two top rookies this season. But while the Thunder sport the second-best record in the West at 23-10, the Spurs have the worst mark in the conference and the second-worst record in the league at 5-28.

Wemby is averaging 18.9 points, 10.2 rebounds, 3.1 blocks, 2.9 assists and 1.2 steals in 29.4 minutes per contest, while Holmgren is putting up 17.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.7 blocks, 2.7 assists and 0.7 steals in 30.0 minutes per outing.

The two star big men have already met once this season, with Oklahoma City getting a blowout 123-87 win at home on November 14. Though the Thunder won by 36, neither rookie star played well. Holmgren scored nine points, compared to Wemby's eight. Wembanyama won the rebounding and blocked shots advantages 14-7 and 2 -1, respectively, that night while Holmgren dished out one more assist, 2-1.

Chet Holmgren was the second overall pick in 2022, but he did not play at all during his first season in the NBA. He suffered a Lisfranc injury to his right foot, which he picked up two months after that summer's draft.

Victor Wembanyama was the number one overall pick this past June. Facing expectations not seen since LeBron James in 2003, the 19-year-old, 7'4 phenom has lived up to much of the hype. His team, on the other hand, has fallen well short of modest expectations. With that said, it's not a surprise why the Spurs have been removed from a spot on the NBA's biggest national platform.