NEW YORK – San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama has been fined $25,000 by the NBA for throwing a basketball into the stands during Friday’s game against the New York Knicks. The incident occurred at the end of the Spurs’ 130-126 overtime victory over the Knicks.
Wembanyama’s celebratory shot came after an impressive performance where he scored 40 points, grabbed 20 rebounds, and dished out seven assists. This marked the first time an NBA rookie had achieved such statistics since 1974.
The game also saw Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson make history with the second-highest scoring game in the team’s history, putting up 61 points. A valuable souvenir ball caught by a fan after Wembanyama’s toss into the crowd was promptly retrieved by a ball boy on the Knicks’ bench.
This game was just the second in NBA history where one player had a 40-point, 20-rebound game while another had a 60-point performance. The only other instance was in 1961 when Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain accomplished this feat.
Wembanyama, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft, is currently a frontrunner for the Rookie of the Year award, averaging 21 points and 10.5 rebounds per game this season. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and The Associated Press contributed to this report.