Spurs are painfully costing Wembanyama the greatest legacy of all time

The NBA tied San Antonio's hands when they implemented their 65-game rule for end-of-season awards. Because of it, there's a very good chance that Victor Wembanyama will miss another opportunity to add very prestigious titles next to his name. He's the Alien. Had these changes never been made, one can only imagine what his resume would look like at his career's end; alas, here we are.

Wembanyama can only miss three more games in a season with more than 40 remaining. That's highly unlikely if you go based on the current trajectory of already missing 14 in the first 35. You should start preparing for disappointment now if you haven't already.

Wembanyama will likely enter year 4 with no awards to his name

Let me be clear here: this is not the Spurs' fault. They're doing what they should be doing to protect their ultra-star. His unique build demands extra care and caution. Vic knew this before entering the league, and that's why he and his camp spent so much time trying different methods to improve his flexibility and durability before he reached the league.

The NBA has a rigorous 82-game schedule, and it's tough on just about everybody. It's not like Wemby is the only one suffering from the injury bug. Guys seem to be going down at a higher rate now than ever before. There are a lot of speculative reasons for that; the games are too close together, the pace of play is higher, or whatever it is, it doesn't really matter to the Spurs.

Their job is to make sure the 7'5" French demon can have as long a career as possible. That's not guaranteed for someone of his size, so they must be vigilant. Fans are understandably frustrated now, but they'd be furious if something more dire happened to him because of an irresponsible medical staff.

The NBA is punishing the wrong stars

This is one of those not-so-rare situations where there's no great answer for how to address resting players unnecessarily. That's why they put this rule in to begin with, but it's flawed. You can ask them not to sit stars, but they'll just pick an injury out of a hat and say their guy needed to heal.

I understand the desire to curb the disregard of the regular season—because that's what that is—but legitimately hurt guys are being punished for circumstances out of their control for things someone else did. That's not right, either.

Without that rule in place, Wemby could have entered his fourth season with two Defensive Player of the Year awards and the Most Valuable Player trophy, and he would have been the youngest to win the latter. It would be the start of potentially the greatest set of accolades ever achieved. He'll likely begin next year with no awards and a massive chip on his shoulder instead. Nobody wants that.