Victor Wembanyama’s second NBA season has reportedly come to an end.
The 7-foot-3 San Antonio Spurs sensation has been diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis in right shoulder and is now done for the year, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania, who reports the team thinks this is an ‘isolated condition.’
A vein thrombosis occurs when blood begins to clot in deeper veins in the body. The issue can become seriously dangerous because those clogs could loosen and end up in the lungs, causing a pulmonary embolism.
The injury to the former No. 1 draft pick comes just days after Wembanyama’s first All-Star Game appearance. The 21-year-old Frenchman was the NBA’s Rookie of the Year in 2023-24, as well as an All-Defensive First Team selection after leading the league in blocked shots.
The bad news for Wembanyama comes with the Spurs falling out of the playoff chase in the Western Conference at 23-29. Currently they’re 3.5 games out of the play-in tournament.
Spurs center Victor Wembanyama’s second NBA season has reportedly come to an end
‘Awful,’ one fan wrote on X. ‘He was going to have his moment in the playoffs. Really sucks for the NBA.’
‘Blood clots are no joke,’ another added. ‘I hope he recovers fully.’
At least one fan did look on the bright side: ‘I’m glad they were able to find it. Get well Wemby!’
Not only was Wembanyama the unanimous rookie of the year last season, but he’s currently the favorite, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, to be defensive player of the year this season.
‘There goes my Wemby DPOTY bet,’ one self-centered fan remarked on X.
He was almost certainly going to make the All-NBA team and had been threatening to get a few MVP votes along the way.
All for good reason.
His scoring average is up. Rebounds per game, up. Shooting percentages, up. He’s already taken 403 3-pointers and blocked 176 shots this season – no player in NBA history has ever finished a season with those numbers, and Wemby did it this year by the All-Star break.
He’s averaging 24.3 points, 11 rebounds, 3.8 blocks and 3.7 assists; the only other player to finish a season averaging all that was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1975-76.
Golden State’s Stephen Curry was asked what he marvels at when he watches Wembanyama.
‘Everything he does,’ Curry said. ‘Everything.’
Spurs center Victor Wembanyama rebounds the ball against the Orlando Magic on February 8
The Spurs have been through some things this season.
Gregg Popovich, the franchise patriarch and someone Wembanyama calls the best leader he’s ever known, had a stroke in November and coached only five games before needing to be replaced by assistant Mitch Johnson – who, by all accounts, has done an admirable job.
The travel has been brutal, even by San Antonio standards: the Spurs went to New York for a few days over Christmas, spent a week in France for the NBA Paris Games, were in Los Angeles when wildfires were ravaging that city and are now dealing with the annual rodeo road trip that displaces them for much of February.
Veteran Spurs star Chris Paul says the team has had chances, pointing to how 10 of San Antonio’s 29 losses have been by five points or fewer.
‘I think we can really put something together after the break,’ Paul said days before Wembanyama was ruled out for the year.
Now, though, the Spurs appear to be headed back into the NBA Draft Lottery without their biggest star.
