San Antonio Spurs’ center Victor Wembanyama may be headed into another minutes restriction in his team’s next game, which happens to be an important one. On Tuesday, Dec. 16, Wembanyama and the rest of coach Mitch Johnson’s 2025-26 Spurs are taking on coach Mike Brown’s New York Knicks at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, for this year’s NBA Cup championship game.
Earlier on the same day, it was reported by @UnderdogNBA on X/Twitter that Wembanyama will be playing off the bench, as opposed to his usual starting-five duties. This comes just four days after Wembanyama played in a similar setup in San Antonio’s two-point victory, 111-109, over the defending champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder, coached by Mark Daigneault.
Lineup alert: Victor Wembanyama will play off the bench Tuesday, per coach Johnson.
— Underdog NBA (@UnderdogNBA) December 17, 2025
Fans online criticized the move to have a talent like Wembanyama come off the bench, as evidenced by their reactions on social media.
“I don’t understand this, just play him for like the first three minutes. Why potentially go down 15+ then put him in?,” one fan questioned.
“There up to no good per usual,” another user claimed.
“RIGGED,” another fan exclaimed.
“They want Wemby to be the 6th Man of the Year instead of MVP,” a user wrote.
Other X users pleaded with the Spurs coaching staff to not only make Wembanyama play but also give him a hefty amount of minutes, given that he is back in full force.
“Free him,” one user said.
“LOL, let the mf play, bro,” another user shared.
“Better let him play in the first this time,” a user posted.
In the lone game this year, as previously mentioned, Wembanyama came off the bench for the Spurs and tallied 22 points on an efficient 6-for-11 overall clip, nine rebounds, two assists, a steal, and two blocks in just 21 minutes of playing time. The current roster of the Spurs has an overall record of 18-7, which is good for the fourth seed in the Western Conference.
Victor Wembanyama Is Coming Off A Calf Injury
Perhaps the reasoning as to why coach Mitch Johnson and his staff have opted to place a minutes restriction and an off-the-bench setup for Victory Wembanyama is to ease him back into the rotation and the full swing of the NBA.
Wembanyama was previously out for almost a month with a calf strain he suffered in mid-November, as he now looks to reclaim his spot in the starting five.
Read More: Possible Victor Wembanyama-Giannis Antetokounmpo Union Has Fans Excited: “Reincarnated David Robinson And Tim Duncan Would Be Crazy AF”
Also Read: Victor Wembanyama Creates NBA Record That Even Michael Jordan And LeBron James Couldn’t
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