- The French sensation began to heat up as he stepped back onto the ground
- He returned to the dressing room to tape up the ankle, but Spurs kept him out
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San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama was forced to sit out Saturday night's game against the Dallas Mavericks after suffering an injury during warm-ups.
The 19-year-old phenom suffered a bizarre injury before the match could even start, leaving him sidelined for the match against Luka Doncic and co.
As the French sensation was warming up, he went forward to score a basket and then stepped back from the court, but as he did so he caught the ball boy, stood behind the net and kicked his foot.
The rookie returned to the locker room to tape the ankle and wanted to play, but the Spurs stopped him as a precaution.
The night went from bad to worse for the Spurs as the Mavericks defeated them 144-119.
Victor Wembanyama stepped on a ball boy's foot and sprained his ankle during warm-up
The 19-year-old phenom had to sit out Saturday's game against the San Antonio Spurs
It is currently unclear if Wembanyama will return for San Antonio's game against the Utah Jazz on December 26.
It was the second time in three games that Wembanyama was inactive. The reason was right ankle pain four nights earlier in Milwaukee.
The nearly 7-foot Wembanyama played 22 minutes, one of his season-low, in a loss to Chicago on Thursday night.
The Spurs entered the game in Dallas on a 1-21 streak, with three consecutive losses since setting a franchise record for a losing streak for the second straight season, an 18-game skid.
Wembanyama is averaging 18.5 points and 10.7 rebounds as the No. 1 overall pick. He made his NBA debut at home against the Mavericks in October.
Doncic, who had 12 rebounds and recorded his 10th assist just before leaving the game for good at the end of the third quarter, had his 36th 30-point triple-double, one shy of LeBron James for third on the career list.
Jeremy Sochan had 23 points and nine rebounds for the Spurs, who lost their fourth straight game since ending an 18-game losing streak that set a franchise record for the second consecutive season.
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 23 points and Dante Exum added 20 for Dallas.
Luka Doncic scored his 36th 30-point triple-double as the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Spurs
The Mavs ended a three-game losing streak after Doncic and All-Star sidekick Kyrie Irving were eliminated in a 26-point loss at Houston. Doncic suffered a quadriceps strain and Irving has now missed eight straight games with a right heel contusion. Dallas is 4-4 in those games.
Doncic, who is 11 points shy of 10,000 for his career in the 24-year-old's sixth season, was 13 of 27 from the field, including 5 of 10 from 3-point range.
It was his sixth triple-double of the season, three nights after Doncic thought he had one with 28 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. A rebound was taken away in the official final statistics.
That 120-111 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers is the only game in Doncic's past 12 games in which the four-time All-Star did not score at least 30 goals.