San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama is reportedly out for the remainder of the season after being diagnosed with what has been called a "deep vein thrombosis" in his right shoulder (per ESPN's Shams Charania).
Videos by FanBuzz
Breaking: Victor Wembanyama is expected to miss the remainder of the season with deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder, the Spurs announced. pic.twitter.com/WnvCRd04qd
— ESPN (@espn) February 20, 2025
While appearing on SportsCenter, Shams broke the news.
"Victor Wembanyama came back from the All-Star game this past weekend in San Francisco, and he was diagnosed with a form of a blood clot."
This is devastating for the Spurs, who are attempting to make a postseason push, with a current 23-29 record (3.5 games back from play-in spot).
That is to say, with their 2023 No. 1 overall pick out of the lineup, it certainly will be tough sledding for San Antonio, who also have been without their 5x NBA champion head coach Greg Popovich most of the season, after he suffered a stroke.
While appearing on CBS Sports' Thursday morning TV broadcast, former Spurs guard Avery Johnson said he was shocked by hearing the news of Wemby coming down with this season-ending injury.
"I'm blown away, I'm shocked," Johnson said. "At the NBA All-Star weekend he looked good, he didn't seem like he had any issues. So this just came out of nowhere... The most unexpected thing I thought I would hear on a Thursday afternoon."
Notably, the consensus around the league was that Wembanyama was on pace to notch the 2025 Defensive Player of the Year award, which now goes out the window unfortunately (65-game played minimum rule).
Prior to the All-Star break, the 21-year-old Frenchman had been averaging 24.3 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 3.8 blocks and 1.1 steals per game in his second season.
Wembanyama had some great games during his 2nd season
50 PTS, 8 3PT
42 PTS, 7 3PT, 6 REB, 5 AST, 4 BLK
34 PTS, 14 REB, 11 AST, 5 3PT
30 PTS, 10 BLK, 4 3PT
24 PTS, 13 REB, 9 BLK
20 PTS, 23 REB, 4 BLK
25 PTS, 9 REB, 7 AST, 5 STL, 5 BLK, 4 3PTpic.twitter.com/if8cxxehG1— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) February 20, 2025
Ultimately, the hope is that this is an isolated blood clot, so Wembanyama will be able to make a full recovery and be ready to go ahead of the 2025-26 NBA season.
