Image Credit: Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

“It feels unfair” – Victor Wembanyama calls out referees for whistle after Ivica Zubac incident

Victor Wembanyama expressed his frustration over referees "unfair" calls after the Ivica Zubac incident during Spurs' loss to Clippers.

Image Credit: Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

The San Antonio Spurs suffered a tough 128-116 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday, dropping their record to 20-24 for the season. But it wasn’t just the score that left a bad taste in Victor Wembanyama’s mouth. A moment in the third quarter sparked an angry response from the young star.

As the Spurs were in transition, Chris Paul found Harrison Barnes for an open three-pointer. Wembanyama, expecting a miss, was preparing for the rebound when Clippers center Ivica Zubac came charging into his back. The force sent Wembanyama flying toward the baseline, crashing hard onto the floor.

The French phenom ran after Zubac, clearly upset but the entire Spurs bench stepped in and held Wembanyama back.

After the game, the 21-year-old opened up about the incident and expressed his frustration over referees “unfair” calls.

“It’s not even about Zubac,” Wembanyama said. “It’s just frustration, no matter who it was.”

When asked if he feels he gets a fair whistle, he didn’t hold back.

“No,” Wembanyama replied. “So it’s a hard thing to fight, because it feels unfair sometimes.”

“It’s not my job to do politics” – Victor Wembanyama

Wembanyama admitted that there are things he can improve on, like being physically stronger and not relying on the refs to bail him out on calls. However, he made it clear that he shouldn’t have to influence the way games are officiated.

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“But for me, it doesn’t feel like it’s something I should influence,” he said. “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.”

Victor Wembanyama discussing his dilemma of how he can be officiated sometimes.

Wemby: "I'm a basketball player… it's frustrating. It's not my job to do politics."

"You have Chris Paul for that?"

Wemby: "Yeah." pic.twitter.com/aD86UAIOsh
— Law Murray 🔜 (@LawMurrayTheNU) January 30, 2025

Zubac, for his part, took responsibility for the incident and apologized after the game.

“I reacted a little. I thought I got fouled. I was mad at the refs and I was late,” Zubac explained. “I saw Wemby crashing and I knew I had to box him out. Bumped 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.”

Ivica Zubac

San Antonio Spurs

Victor Wembanyama

Swati Bhatia

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mlb

wnba

I work as a content strategist, specializing in creating engaging content about the NBA, WNBA, and MLB. My main focus is on writing breaking news updates, research-based articles, and covering trending topics. Right now, I’m leading the content team for the NBA, WNBA, and MLB categories at Playoffs English.