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Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama to miss rest of season with deep vein thrombosis in shoulder
The San Antonio Spurs announced Thursday that the sophomore phenom has been diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder and will miss the remainder of the 2024-25 season.
Victor Wembanyama‘s season is over.
The San Antonio Spurs announced Thursday that the sophomore phenom has been diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder and will miss the remainder of the 2024-25 season.
According to the team, Wembanyama’s condition was discovered when he returned to San Antonio following Sunday’s All-Star game in San Francisco. The team will provide updates as appropriate.
The 21-year-old’s injury puts an end to a stellar second season. Through 46 games, Wembanyama averaged 24.3 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.1 steals and 3.8 blocks per game. He ranks ninth in the NBA for rebounds and leads the league in both average and total blocks. The only player to finish the season with those averages was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1975-76.
He has already attempted 403 threes and blocked 176 shots this season — no player in NBA history has ever finished a season with those numbers, and Wembanyama has done it this year by the All-Star break.
According to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, the team is optimistic that Wembanyama will make a full recovery in time for the start of next season. Shams Charania added that the Spurs, per his reporting, believe the diagnosis to be “an isolated condition.”
Now-Toronto Raptors forward Brandon Ingram was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis in his right arm in 2019 and missed the final 19 games of the Los Angeles Lakers season. He returned for the start of the 2019-20 campaign and ended up playing 62 of 72 games.
Wembanyama’s efforts this season earned the former No. 1 overall pick his first All-Star nod and had him as the front-runner to win Defensive Player of the Year. He finished second in DPOY voting last year, as a rookie.
In the championship final of Sunday’s All-Star mini-tournament, Wemby put up a team-high 11 points on five-of-seven shooting.
The injury also put a wrench into the Spurs’ plans as they appeared ready to make a push for the Play-In. San Antonio added former All-Star De’Aaron Fox at the trade deadline, to pair the dynamic guard with Wembanyama. Fox made it known that San Antonio was his “preferred destination” when the Kings began shopping him ahead of the Feb. 6 deadline, largely due to the prospect of teaming up with Wemby.
It’s also the second major hit to the Spurs this season after coach Gregg Popovich had a stroke in November and has been unable to coach since.
The Spurs are currently 23-29, 12th in the Western Conference and 3.5 games back of the final Play-In spot. They make their return from the All-Star break on Thursday, hosting Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns.
— with files from the Associated Press
