Michael C. Wright
SAN ANTONIO – In a state of perplexity and disbelief, San Antonio repeated the same words after Sandromam Kerashvili walked near the locker on Wednesday night, beating the New York Knicks 120-105.
“I don’t know what happened,” Mamkerashvili said. “I don’t know what happened.”
Good friends and rapper flavours and 18,521 crowds that blew MVP Chanz out and blown the Frost Bank Center, Mam Kerashvili made NBA history by getting a career-high 34 in games that have been under 20 minutes since 1951-52 and under 20 minutes when minutes became official.
“I have been waiting for this day for a long time,” Mamkerashvili said. “I can’t explain how I feel now. I feel like I’m in a dream. I revealed it and prayed. I was just waiting for this day. I really had an in-vital experience. I thought, ‘Is this really going on?’
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Spurs teammates confirmed it and stomped Mamukelashvili on the final buzzer floor. Wore a red T-shirt with his trademark watch hanging from his neck, Flavour Flav has become even more realistic with crashing the forward’s on-court post-game interview.
Teammate Jeremy Sochan sat in one locker from Mamkelashvili minutes after all the havoc on the court and half-jokingly asked if he could “stay the flavoured flavour” in San Antonio for a while.
With an average of 8.9 minutes in the season, Mamkerashvili didn’t take part in Wednesday’s match until 55 seconds in the second quarter. The 25-year-old wasted a little time making him feel like he was there. Mamukelashvili won his first bucket with a chip-in from Blake Wesley Miss. He then dug up 27 footers from the assist at Stephen Castle, giving the Spurs a 7-point lead.
He finished the quarter with 13 points with five-sixth shooting, including three-thirds and assists from long distances as San Antonio got off the floor on a 67-43 lead break.
“It would be ridiculous to say that it was 13 minutes off the field, 7-7 to 3-7, and that was expected on the 19-26 opportunity,” Spurs said, coach Mitch Johnson. “He’s a really good shooter game and you’re just waiting for him to have one of those games. I think you’ve probably surpassed some of the ideas of having one of those games. But he’s going to end up working every day. He can hear a bit of their feelings (in the locker room) when he talks about the role he has.”
Mamukelashvili didn’t play in the third quarter. However, in the final frame he lit up the Knicks with 21 points with eight-eight shots. This includes four-quarters of the 3-point range to go with two rebounds and two assists.
Mamukelashvili got so hot that teammate Chris Paul began calling the action stretch to make his teammates look even more.
“Fortunately, I’ve been playing for a while and I know the art of guys taking shots,” Paul said. “Mum is a great teammate. He does his best every day, always feels good and cheers with a good attitude. When he shoots the ball like that, you just try to find a guy.”
Mamukelashvili became the fourth player in NBA history, earning 90% off the field, 100% on three-pointers and 100% on free throws in the game, joining Tyrese Haliburton (2022), Gary Payton (1995) and Charles Barkley. He was also ranked as the third spur to knock down 7-7 or more on a 3-pointer, joining Matt Bonner (2010) and Steve Smith (2001).
The historic night would not have come at a better time to fly his father’s Zlab to Zlab in New Jersey and watch his game against other families on Wednesday. Flav, who celebrated his birthday on March 16th, was a “long-term” friend of Mamkelashvili, the forward said. Mamukelashvili and Flavor Flav met through the latter financial advisor.
Flavour Flav came to meet Mamkerashvili in his first NBA Summer League in 2021.
“He told me, ‘I’m going to come out,'” Mamkerashvili said. “He called me and he was like, ‘I’m coming to San Antonio for my birthday.’ So I said, “Okay, you’re not going to enjoy it there.”
But he did so thanks to a career night from a friend.
“I’m trying to improve. I’m trying to establish myself,” Mamkelashvili said. “I’m trying to show everyone what I belong to. I keep moving towards it. I’m so happy to have a support team behind me: my girl, my friends, my teammates, my family. It felt incredible.”
ESPN research contributed to this report.
