No Longer 'Watching From the Sideline,' Spurs' Charles Bassey Earning His Keep

The center showed enough there to earn himself a standard contract on Valentine's Day, but a month later, he required season-ending surgery to repair a fractured left patellar tendon. That put him on the road to recovery, which told the story of his sophomore summer.

"I've been working all summer on my body," Bassey said in anticipation for his second season with the Spurs. "I'm feeling great. I'm in shape. I'm conditioned, so I'm feeling good." 

Again, his stint was short lived. Bassey tore his ACL in December, causing him to again miss the season and further postpone what he hoped would be a marvelous return.

"It sucks, truthfully," Spurs shooting guard Devin Vassell said of his teammate. "Prayers up for C. Bass. We've all got our arms around him, trying to help him out. We've got to be there for him mentally."

Safe to say, two years of staying at the ready with still a hope to earn meaningful minutes taught Bassey some valuable lessons, though none greater than the one he repeated at the podium, speaking on his nothing-less-than difficult two seasons.

"You never know what's going to happen," he said. "(I'm just) staying ready at any time ... my mentality is going into every game knowing I'm going to play."

The result this particular night was 16 points and four blocks — Bassey's fourth game in 16 tries with numerous blocks and third time finishing in double figures offensively. For a backup center, as Spurs acting coach Mitch Johnson noted, that was nearly perfect.

"He played the role that we needed him to," the coach said. "Energy, activity, physicality, athleticism. When he does that, the ball finds him and he makes plays on both ends."

"When I came back, I saw Bassey grabbing as many rebounds as he can," Wembanyama added. "It was good to see him go to work like that. He stepped up real well."

For the better part of his NBA career, Charles Bassey was unsure of when he'd get to take the floor.

His health was constantly in question — something he was sorely reminded of every time he warmed the bench — and without a true spot in the rotation, there was no telling how long that might last.

But with Zach Collins dealing with some injuries of his own, or in the case against the Pelicans, getting ejected, Bassey was gifted an opportunity.

He "saved the game." And this time at the rim with meaningful minutes,

"Every time I'm out there," Bassey began, "I'm catching the coach's eye ... help(ing) the team win."

As for whether sharing the floor with his teammates far exceeds the professional experience that comes with watching from the sideline?

"Of course," the center explained. "Everybody wants to play," "We don't pick the lineups. We've just got to come ready. It's next-man-up mentality."

Moving forward, Bassey's role will still be relatively unknown. He's utilized his chance to fill in for Collins and give Wembanyama some help in the front court, but with so many moving variables, there isn't any telling how long he'll have the chance to get the spotlight.

But he isn't concerned about that. All he knows is that he's made his case with the Spurs.

And this time, it's his teammates taking notice of him.

"We saw him almost all last year, last summer doing his rehab, his conditioning" Wembanyama said, speaking on Bassey's work ethic. "It feels good to finally see him get minutes, and good minutes."