Spurs’ Stephon Castle gets real regarding Victor Wembanyama’s minutes restriction

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Spurs’ Stephon Castle gets real regarding Victor Wembanyama’s minutes restriction

Hector Ledesma, ClutchPoints · ClutchPoints

Tue, Dec 23, 2025 ·

3 min read

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Victor Wembanyama has yet to play more than 25 minutes in a game for the San Antonio Spurs since returning from a calf strain . Most recently, unlike several of the other contests while he's been on minutes restriction, the generational talent saw most of his action in the first half. It's a dynamic that star guard Stephon Castle doesn't focus on.

"I mean, not really," the reigning Rookie of the Year responded when asked if Wemby's absence during what ended up proving a pivotal stretch was in the back of his mind.

After the Silver and Black built a 20 point lead at the intermission, the Washington Wizards started to claw their way back in the third quarter. Wembanyama had already seen 15 minutes of action by that point. He's been allotted around 22 minutes per night.

"We just go out there and play with whatever five on the court," Castle continued. "Obviously, we want big fella on the court as much as we can. But, I mean, just recently getting him back, I feel like his health is more important than that."

The Spurs beat the Wizards 124-113 that night , winning for the fourth time out of the five since their leading scorer returned.

Stephon Castle , Spurs navigating Victor Wembanyama 's return

While the 7-foot-5 Wembanyama is instrumental to the Spurs success, as far as head coach Mitch Johnson is concerned, certain aspects don't change regardless of his status.

"With or without Victor, our standard, our brand, our identity," Johnson said of what's key for his ball club.

Though Washington rallied in San Antonio 's most recent victory, the Spurs first-year head coach took positives in the Wemby-less minutes.

"I thought we showed some good signs of that. And then, yeah, not as consistent as we like. But again, we got it done."

Following the win vs. the Wizards, the Spurs sport a 21-7 record. As of that victory, they rank second in the NBA's Western Conference behind only the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder as well as first in the Southwest Division. Though the performance against the Wizards wasn't their best, it did exhibit the kind of effort the Spurs have shown.

"Yeah, I think it was one of those games we just at times needed guys to step up and get it done," Johnson continued. "It wasn't pretty, wasn't up to our standard in some aspects, but it's a long season and you can't always be too selfish in terms of how it looks. And so, I thought our guys did a good job of just doing enough to maintain."

The Spurs have received contributions from outside of their 'Big four,' which includes De'Aaron Fox and Dylan Harper along with Castle and Wembanyama.

"Those guys got it done, and specifically in the fourth quarter when those guys have stepped up. And you have trust in them after what they did when Wemby was out."

San Antonio will continue to rely on the likes of Devin Vassell , Harrison Barnes , Julian Champagnie , Luke Kornet and Keldon Johnson — with or without its marquee player.

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