NBA fines Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama for tossing ball into stands

NEW YORK — Victor Wembanyama's tossing of a basketball into the stands was costly.

The NBA fined the San Antonio rookie $25,000 on Sunday for the act, which occurred late in the Spurs' 130-126 overtime victory over the New York Knicks on Friday.

Wembanyama caught a long pass for a steal on the final play of the game, wrapped his arms around the ball, waved to a fan from the field, then threw the ball a few rows into the crowd.

He had 40 points, 20 rebounds and seven assists in the game. It was the first such stat line written by an NBA rookie since 1974.

Meanwhile, guard Jalen Brunson had the second-highest scoring game in Knicks history with 61 points, and a ball boy working the team's bench sprinted to retrieve the ball from the fan who had caught because it was a precious souvenir.

According to ESPN Stats & Information, this is only the second time in NBA history that a player has had a game with 40 points and 20 rebounds and another has played with 60 points. The other instance occurred in 1961, when Elgin Baylor scored 63 points and Wilt Chamberlain had 78 points and 43 rebounds.

Wembanyama, the No. 1 pick in last year's draft, is the consensus favorite to win Rookie of the Year. He is averaging 21 points and 10.5 rebounds this season.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst and the Associated Press contributed to this report.