San Antonio Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama has said referees’ lack of call is frustrating after LA Clippers’ Ivica Zubav shoved him to the court during the Clippers’ 128-116 victory over the Spurs on Wednesday night.
“It’s not even about Zubac,” Wembanyama said. “It’s just frustration, no matter who it was.”
On the other hand, Zubac issued his apology to Wembanyama and admitted he reacted a bit more aggressively than he should have.
“I reacted a little,” Zubac said. “I thought I got fouled [on the previous play]. I was mad at the refs. So then I was late [on Barnes’ 3-point shot]. I saw it going up. I saw Wemby crashing, so I knew I had to box him out. I bumped him a little harder. I let emotions take over a little bit, but I apologized to him. That’s not the way I want to be on the court and compete.”
Zubac added 21 points and 22 rebounds whereas Wembanyama scored 23 points and 12 rebounds.
“I thought there was a few plays that should have been taken care of a little bit earlier,” San Antonio acting head coach Mitch Johnson said. “You’ll get reactions like that. It’s probably surprising he hasn’t reacted like that earlier, to be honest. He gets a lot of contact, and at some point he’s going to have to continue to protect himself if the people controlling the game, supposedly, are not going to do that.”
Wembanyama admitted he needs to learn how to handle himself on the court while talking to the officials but said his focus is on playing basketball and he doesn’t want to get involved in politics.
“So it’s a hard thing to fight, because it feels unfair sometimes,” Wembanyama said. “But of course, we talk about it with the staff and there is some stuff I have to do to help myself. First of all, being strong and not bailing out shots, but also there is some work to do. Talking to the refs, of course, explaining myself. But for me, it doesn’t feel like it’s something I should influence. I’m a basketball player, I’m here to play, and yeah, this is why it’s frustrating. It’s not my job to do politics.”
The Spurs will next take on the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday.
