The San Antonio Spurs released a statement Thursday, Feb. 2o revealing that French center Victor Wembanyama’s injury means the player is sidelined for the rest of the regular season.
“Victor Wembanyama has been diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder,” the Spurs shared in a post on X. “The condition was discovered when Wembanyama returned to San Antonio following the All-Star Game in San Francisco. Wembanyama is expected to miss the remainder of the 2024-2025 regular season. The team will provide updates as appropriate.”
Wembanyama will certainly be missed. As the cornerstone of the Spurs’ future, the NBA draft No. 1 overall pick in 2023 and the 2024 Rookie of the Year, Wembanyama’s sky-high potential is undisputed. But equally as important is keeping him healthy enough to continue succeeding. For a player of his height, weight and play style, putting in the work to stay on the court will be huge for his future. While uncommon, it seems that this injury will not linger once he makes his full recovery.
Legendary point guard Chris Paul shared what it meant to lose Wembanyama this year.
“More than anything we will just miss him being around […]. His energy and charisma, and what he brings into the locker room is what we’ll miss the most,” Paul said.
Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) often occurs when a blood clot forms in a deep vein in the body. While usually in the legs, Wembanyama’s blood clot is located in his shoulder. Pain and swelling can occur, and if not fully treated, it can develop into serious and deadly pulmonary embolisms in the lungs. Blood thinners are a typical treatment, but catheters can be used in serious cases.
This condition has been seen in athletes who do a lot of repetitive overhead activity. Toronto Raptors’ Brandon Ingram also had DVT in his right arm when he played for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2019. Ingram missed the rest of his season but made a full recovery the next year.
Wembanyama will likely be put on blood thinners which will prevent him from playing the rest of the season. Because basketball is a contact sport, players can’t participate if they take blood thinners due to the risk of trauma injuries, especially to the head, and internal bleeding.
Wembanyama is now out of the running for multiple NBA awards due to the 65-game minimum required. He will no longer receive Defensive Player of the Year, which fans assumed he was a lock for with his average of nearly four blocks per game. Wembanyama will also not be eligible for the All-Defense and All-NBA Team after the season.
With Wembanyama out of the running, other players will receive these awards and qualify for more lucrative contracts. Some notable players that could benefit from this shake-up include Evan Mobley, Jaren Jackson Jr., Cade Cunningham and Trae Young. Wembanyama’s absence from the court may make a difference of millions in these players’ contracts.
So what does this mean for the Spurs going forward? Speaking long-term, Wembanyama is so young and has so much potential that this is hopefully just a blip in his promising career. In the short term, however, the Spurs will need to assess their course of action.
As of March 2, the Spurs are ranked No. 13 in the Western Conference and have won only three of their last 10 games, bringing their record to 25-33. The team is 5.5 games behind the tenth seed in the standings. Without Wembanyama and the extreme versatility of playmaking and defense he brings to the court, the Spurs’ will likely continue to struggle.
While the likelihood of the Spurs competing in the Western Conference playoffs is low, San Antonio is expected to see benefits in the 2025 Draft. Finishing near the bottom of the NBA standings will likely give them top-ten odds in the draft lottery. However, San Antonio already has a plethora of young talent that needs time to develop rather than shuffling up what they already have enough of. On the other hand, this incoming class might be the strongest in a couple of years with exciting college talents. It could make sense to add to the talent, attempt to cement their young core, and develop the team now rather than drafting players later into Wembanyama’s prime.
At the end of the day, the Spurs will have to be patient. It is still too early to determine whether or not their players’ talents will combine to create success. While they certainly need more shooting, they have several exciting young players to build around for the future.
