Victor Wembanyama makes strange history in NBA debut vs. Mavericks

Victor Wembanyama's regular-season NBA debut against the Dallas Mavericks didn't exactly go as planned. Foul trouble led to the highly-touted rookie and No. 1 overall pick playing just 23 minutes. 

In those 23 minutes, Wembanyama still managed to make a bit of NBA history — just not quite in the fashion most likely expected him to.

As OpstaStats revealed, Wembanyama scored nine points while playing with five fouls, which marked the most any player in his NBA debut has made in the last 25 years.

Obviously, Spurs fans and surely Wembanyama himself would have liked that stat to be "most points scored by a rookie in his debut," but even in limited minutes, the rookie's presence was still felt. 

He finished the game with 15 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block. He did have five turnovers as well, but the Spurs as a whole were outdone by a well-rounded effort from the Mavericks.

Specifically, Luka Doncic shined in his 2023-24 regular season debut, tallying a 33-point triple-double, tacking on 13 rebounds and 10 assists for good measure.