The San Antonio Spurs on Thursday announced some unfortunate and unexpected news about Victor Wembanyama.
Wembanyama will miss the remainder of the 2024-25 season, according to the Spurs. The 7-foot-3 phenom has been diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder, which was discovered when Wembanyama returned to San Antonio from the NBA All-Star Game in San Francisco.
Deep vein thrombosis is a type of blood clot. Though an issue like that is always concerning, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports that the Spurs believe the deep vein thrombosis in Wembanyama’s shoulder is an “isolated condition.”
Brandon Ingram was also diagnosed with DVT in his shoulder when he was with the Los Angeles Lakers several years ago. He missed the final 19 games of the 2018-2019 season but has since returned to play at a high level.
The Wembanyama news obviously comes out of nowhere. He played on All-Star weekend and had 6 points and 4 rebounds in his first game to help Team Chuck defeat Team Kenny. Wembanyama then had 11 points and 3 rebounds in the championship game, where Team Chuck fell to Team Shaq.
Wembanyama was then listed on the Spurs’ official injury report on Wednesday as doubtful to play in Thursday night’s game against the Phoenix Suns due to an illness.
The Spurs entered the All-Star break 23-29 and fighting to remain in the playoff hunt. It goes without saying that their postseason hopes have now taken a massive hit.
Wembanyama averaged 24.3 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.8 blocks per game this season.
