NBC flexed Victor Wembanyama onto national television for Tuesday night. He won’t be playing.
The Spurs announced Monday that Wembanyama has a left calf strain and will be sidelined for at least the next few weeks. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported the team will reevaluate him in two to three weeks. The injury happened Friday night against Golden State, when Wembanyama played through the game with 26 points and 12 rebounds before sitting out Sunday’s win over Sacramento.
NBC made the decision to flex San Antonio’s game against Memphis into its Coast 2 Coast Tuesday window two weeks ago, specifically to showcase Wembanyama. The network bumped Hawks-Pistons out of the 8 p.m. ET slot and put the Spurs front and center. The press release announcing the change led with Wembanyama’s name. Tracy McGrady had called for more Wembanyama on national TV just one week earlier, and the league listened immediately.
The timing couldn’t be worse for NBC or the Spurs.
Wembanyama is averaging 26.2 points, 12.9 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and a league-leading 3.6 blocks through 12 games. He’s been the best version of himself after injuries limited him to 46 games last season. San Antonio started 9-4, its best start in a decade, with a legitimate case as one of the West’s most improved teams.
Without Wembanyama, the Spurs lose their offensive engine and defensive anchor. Luke Kornet started at center against Sacramento, and Kelly Olynyk came off the bench. That’s the rotation NBC will get on Tuesday night instead of the generational talent they flexed the game for in the first place.
Memphis isn’t exactly whole either. Ja Morant has dealt with injuries throughout the season, and the Grizzlies entered the week banged up across the roster. The game NBC flexed to feature two of the league’s most exciting young stars now features neither at full strength, as the Grizzlies announced on Monday that Morant would miss two weeks with a calf strain of his own.
NBC still has flexibility in its media rights deal and will continue to use it throughout the season. But the first major flex decision backfired in about the most predictable way possible for a sport where load management and soft tissue injuries dominate the conversation.
The network wanted Wembanyama. They got Kornet and Olynyk instead. But nobody flexed this game to watch backup centers. They flexed it for the 7-foot-4 Frenchman who leads the league in blocks and was playing the best basketball of his career before his calf gave out against Golden State three nights ago.