A “rebellious” celebration ended up being very expensive for Victor Wembanyama. San Antonio Spurs defeated the New York Knicks by 130 to 126 and the French player he threw the ball into the stands to celebrate his team’s victory in front of his audience and the NBA decided to sanction him financially. But there is a reason for that shame: A rival must have taken the ball, who scored more than 60 points in the game.
The last seconds of the first overtime period between the Texas franchise against the New Yorkers were being played and Wembanyama was able to keep a long pass that meant the last action of the game. He immediately hugged the ball, greeted a fan located in the front row of the stadium and then He threw the ball into the stands, where people were celebrating the victory of those led by Gregg Popovich, who has the French center as one of his weaknesses.
The Frenchman’s game was huge. He scored 40 points, with 13 of 22 field goals, 4 of 9 three-pointers and 10 of 12 free throws, 20 rebounds and seven assists, all in 38 minutes. In this way, it became the first statistic of this type recorded by a rookie in the league since 1974. However, this Sunday he had breakfast with The NBA fined him $25,000. to the Spurs basketball player for that attitude he had.
But this punishment has a key reason. The thing is, he did it knowing that, symbolically, The ball belonged to New York Knicks player, Jalen Brunson, who scored 61 points in the game. In addition, the cameras captured the angry face of the New York point guard when he saw the attitude of the Texas center. A delegate from the visiting team even ran to recover the ball from the fan who caught it because it was a valuable memory for Brunson who scored that many points for the first time in his career.
Victor Wembanyama, a 20-year-old center born in France, was the first overall pick in last year’s draft. In his country’s basketball, he played as a professional in Nanterre 92, in ASVEL and then went to Metropolitans 92. His performances drew attention to him and since April 2023 he has been part of San Antonio Súrs. He is currently the favorite to be voted Rookie of the Year, averaging 21 points and 10.5 rebounds this season.
The Playoffs, close
The best basketball league in the world is entering the field of definitions. Although many positions remain to be defined, the part most anticipated by NBA lovers is 20 days away from being disputed. The first round of the Playoffs will begin on Saturday, April 20. But before, Between Tuesday, April 16 and Friday, April 19, the Play-In matches of both conferences will be played. The postseason will extend at most – the seventh game of the Finals – until Sunday, June 23.
For now, Boston Celtics are the only one guaranteed their place in the next instance. Those from Massachusetts comfortably lead the Eastern Conference and staying at 1 will be a matter of a few more games. They are followed by the Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks, Orlando Magic, Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers. For their part, a little further back the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks would play the Play-In against the seventh and eighth.
In the west, everything is tighter. Without clear definitions, the teams that are best are Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets. Further back, the Los Angeles Clippers, New Orleans Pelicans, Dallas Mavericks, Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets are those fighting to get directly into the Playoffs or settle and fight for their classification in the Play-In.
It is worth noting that in each conference, the first six places qualify directly for the postseason. While from 7th to 10th they advance to the Play-In.