SAN ANTONIO \u2014 Victor Wembanyama has now qualified for postseason awards after returning from a left rib contusion, scoring 40 points and grabbing 13 rebounds in 26 minutes Friday against the Dallas Mavericks.<\/p>\n
The Spurs\u2019 7-foot-4 superstar was at risk of falling a game short of the 65-game minimum when he suffered a rib injury<\/a> after colliding with Paul George in the second quarter of Monday\u2019s win over the Philadelphia 76ers. He sat out Wednesday\u2019s win over the Portland Trail Blazers but planned to return Friday if his pregame warmup went smoothly. In the third quarter, Wembanyama managed to cross the 20-minute threshold required for the game to count for eligibility.<\/p>\n Though Friday marked Wembanyama\u2019s 64th regular-season contest, his appearance in the NBA Cup final counts for award eligibility even if it doesn\u2019t appear in his official season statistics.<\/p>\n After the game, Wembanyama opined on the veracity of the 65-game rule, going through the list of players who will miss it<\/a> and recognizing how much their absences could dampen the legacy of the season. Cade Cunningham, Luka Don\u010di\u0107 (pending appeal) and Anthony Edwards are all short of the threshold.<\/p>\n \u201cIn my opinion, it\u2019s good to have a threshold, a limit,\u201d he said. \u201cWhere do we need to put it? I don\u2019t know. It\u2019s a good question.\u201d<\/p>\n Luckily for Wembanyama, he was in a room full of reporters who had mulled this over. He had the mic, so he decided it was his time to take control of the news conference.<\/p>\n \u201cLet me ask you a question,\u201d Wembanyama said. \u201cWhat percentage of the season do you think should be the limit?\u201d<\/p>\n Reporters tossed out various numbers, ranging from two-thirds to 80 percent of the season. That\u2019s when Wembanyama started to break things down.<\/p>\n \u201cIf a guy plays 50 games, 35 minutes a game, that\u2019s 50 times 35 \u2014 that\u2019s 1,750, right? Am I right?\u201d Wembanyama said. \u201cIf a guy plays 75 games at 20 minutes, it\u2019s 1,500. So it\u2019s a good view, in my opinion, to not have a limit. It\u2019s one opinion. Seventy-five percent of the games, in my opinion, would be a logical thing, and that would be 61 1\/2 games, right? So, 62 games.\u201d<\/p>\n At that moment, a reporter told Wembanyama his math checked out, which got a chuckle.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, the alien gets all of it right,\u201d another reporter said as Wembanyama laughed.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, there\u2019s some interesting questions,\u201d Wembanyama continued. \u201cBut I think, obviously, I don\u2019t think there\u2019s going to be an exception made for this year. I think it\u2019d be somewhat unfair, but we\u2019ll see how it turns out.\u201d<\/p>\n Wembanyama would have been incredibly frustrated if he didn\u2019t meet the threshold, but he seemed to appreciate the value in pushing players to show up as much as they can. And as much as he has valued the regular season, his excitement for the playoffs approaching was apparent. The Spurs (62-19) will have the No. 2 seed and play the winner of Tuesday\u2019s first West Play-In Tournament game.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s becoming more real, more and more real, that we are actually going to play in the playoffs,\u201d Wembanyama said. \u201cI\u2019m excited to play in high-stakes games again. \u2026 Elimination games and such always reveal things.\u201d<\/p>\n If this is his final regular-season game \u2014 he hinted he might sit out Sunday\u2019s game against the Denver Nuggets \u2014 he has started and ended his season with 40-point outings against the Dallas Mavericks.<\/p>\n Wembanyama recorded his third 40-point game while playing less than 30 minutes this season. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson are the only players to do so multiple times in their careers, and Phoenix Suns wing Grayson Allen is the only other player to do it this season.<\/p>\n Wembanyama is the consensus favorite for Defensive Player of the Year, is expected to make first-team All-NBA and is one of the top contenders for the MVP award. He has campaigned for the MVP, most notably when he debated The Athletic<\/a> over why he should win it over Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.<\/p>\n \u201cMy first one would be that defense is 50 percent of the game, and that is undervalued so far in the MVP race,\u201d Wembanyama said when asked for his three campaign talking points. \u201cI believe I\u2019m the most impactful player defensively in the league. Second argument would be that we almost swept OKC in the season, and we dominated them three times with their real team and four times with the, you know, more rotation players. My third argument would be that offense impact is not just points.\u201d<\/p>\n