San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama would play every week if the choice was his but respects the minutes restriction imposed as coach Gregg Popovich continues to be cautious.

Number one draft pick Wembanyama suffered a "freak" ankle injury in an incident involving a ballboy in a pre-game warm-up before the 144-119 defeat to the Dallas Mavericks last week.

The 19-year-old stepped on a ballboy's foot after a driving layup, subsequently rolling his injured right ankle, but returned to action on Thursday before sitting out of Friday's loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.

San Antonio listed Wembanyama as out due to resting, despite the priority being protecting his ankle, as the Trail Blazers triumphed 134-128.

"He's got a minutes restriction and he can't play back-to-backs for a couple of weeks until they take another picture and check out his foot again," Spurs coach Popovich said.

"When we sat him in Dallas, he wasn't happy, but I'm glad he wasn't happy.

"He's a competitor. All these guys at this level, they didn't get here by being noncompetitive. So, he'd rather be playing. It frustrates him more than anything."

Wembanyama had 30 points, six rebounds, six assists and seven blocks in 24 minutes on Thursday against Portland, becoming the third rookie with 30 points, five assists and five blocks in a game and joining Spurs Hall of Famers David Robinson and Tim Duncan.

The future NBA star remains content to respect the medical staff's mandated advice, despite his wishes to feature on the court every game.

"We communicate a lot with the medical staff and I've made it clear that I want them to sit me out," Wembanyama said.

"I'm going to trust them if they want me to sit out, but only if I really need to.

"If they force me pretty much. If it was up to me, I'd play every game. But I respect my role. They're professionals. I'm a professional. I try to do my job the best I can."