There was only one Victor in Charlotte on Friday night, and it wasn’t Wembanyama

Victor Wembanyama stiffed the Charlotte Hornets again Friday night.

Maybe that’s too harsh a way to put it. But Wembanyama is the gift to the NBA that keeps on not giving to the Hornets, who at least took advantage of his absence to edge the San Antonio Spurs, 124-120.

The Hornets missed out on Wembanyama by a single spot in the NBA draft lottery in May 2023 — the Hornets earned the No. 2 choice when a once-in-a-generation, 7-foot-3 talent was at No. 1. It felt like Anthony Davis all over again.

So instead of seeing Wemby play 41 home games each season in Charlotte, as Hornets fans had so desperately hoped, they only get a single one, on the Spurs’ lone annual visit each NBA season. And then, to add insult to non-injury, Wembanyama dodged the Queen City again Friday. He didn’t play in Charlotte’s narrow win — the Hornets were the lone Victor on the court, you might say — although he wasn’t actually hurt.

The media game notes and the official box score listed the reason for the 7-foot-3 Frenchman sitting the evening out as “rest,” but San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich disagreed with that assessment in his pregame press conference.

“No, it’s not rest, it’s doctor’s orders,” Popovich said when I asked him about Wembanyama missing the game. “He’s been working on his body and he has got a minutes restriction and is not allowed to play back-to-backs right now. It will probably change very soon. But for now, we have to abide by that restriction.”

Wembanyama hurt his ankle Dec. 23 when he stepped on a ballboy in Dallas — that sounds like a punchline, but it isn’t — and he hasn’t played two games in two consecutive nights since. His ankle is OK at the moment, but the Spurs are trying to avoid a re-injury.

The weird thing was that this wasn’t the second night of a back-to-back, which is when NBA stars commonly sit out (so commonly, in fact, that the league now tries to legislate against that).

This was the front end of San Antonio’s latest back-to-back. Wembanyama is scheduled to play the back end, Saturday night at Washington. But under orders from the Spurs’ medical staff, he skipped the game at Charlotte, to the disappointment of the numerous kids in No. 1 Wembanyama jerseys who came specifically to see him.

In fact, a whole lot of people had come to see him. Spectrum Center in Charlotte was a sellout, with 19,093 fans shoehorned into the place, and they weren’t there just because they wanted to watch two of the NBA’s four worst teams square off against each other.

A week ago, in San Antonio, Wembanyama had torched the Hornets for 26 points and 11 rebounds in 20 minutes. This time, he was an unmistakable presence on the bench, towering over everyone else, yet unavailable. An Eiffel Tower, closed for maintenance.

Wembanyama may well have had a say in which of the two games he played. He had said the week before he particularly wanted to play against Washington because the Wizards feature fellow French rookie Bilal Coulibaly, who was Wemby’s teammate in France last season.

As for the actual game: The No. 2 pick of that 2023 NBA Draft, Brandon Miller, did play Friday for Charlotte, and he was superb. Miller hit the game’s first shot, a three-pointer, had a gorgeous dunk later in the game and ended up with 24 points and nine rebounds.

Charlotte (9-30) certainly needed the win, as the Hornets came into the contest having gone an embarrassing 1-17 over their past 18 games. San Antonio (7-34) is even worse, however, especially without Wemby.

And while Wembanyama didn’t play, LaMelo Ball sure did.

It was the point guard’s first home game since Nov. 22, a two-month break from games in the Spectrum Center that was caused first by Ball’s latest ankle injury and then by the Hornets’ long road trip.

In a four-game home stretch in Charlotte before he was hurt, from Nov. 17 to Nov. 22, Ball scored 30-plus points in every game. In this one, he didn’t quite get there, but scored an efficient, game-high 28 points, going 10-for-13 from the field while adding eight assists.

His four straight between-the-legs dribbles, followed by a stepback three-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer, was a thing of beauty. So was a reverse layup in the final minutes, when Ball sliced through most of the San Antonio team. “That was just Melo being Melo,” laughed Miller later. “He claims he’s rare. Not from here.”

And it was Melo who repeatedly saved the Hornets late, when they were in danger of blowing a lead they had held for almost the entire way.

It was one of those nights, really, for the Hornets — and in a good sense.

The Hornets, who came in with the fourth-worst record in the entire NBA, seemed to make every key shot. Miller, their big-time rookie, played well. Charlotte shot 55.2% from 3-point range and had all five starters score at least 17 points.

So Wemby didn’t play.

But the Hornets, for once in this ragged season, sure did.