French star and reigning NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama is expected to miss the rest of the season with a blood clot in his right shoulder, the San Antonio Spurs announced Thursday.
The team said it discovered a deep vein thrombosis — a blood clot — upon Wembanyama’s return from All-Star weekend in San Francisco, and a team source said he is expected to make a full recovery for the start of next season.
It’s a stunning and scary blow to the league’s fastest-rising star and his team. Players were notified Thursday morning before shootaround for a game in Austin, Texas, against the Phoenix Suns.
“It’s been a little bit tough for everybody,” said Spurs teammate and friend Chris Paul. “I think for all of us, knowing how much he means to our team, but more so how much he means to the game and how much he loves to play.”
Wembanyama, 21, an All-Star for the first time in only his second NBA season, is averaging 24.3 points, 11.0 rebounds and a league-best 3.8 blocks in 46 games for San Antonio (23-29), which returns from the All-Star break trailing the Golden State Warriors by 3½ games for the last spot in the Western Conference’s Play-In Tournament.
A potential postseason bid is the least of anyone’s concerns right now. Clots, like the one Wembanyama likely has, are caused by the compression of veins due to repetitive stress on the upper arms, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Medication and surgery are the primary treatments.
In 2019, then-Los Angeles Lakers forward Brandon Ingram had surgery to remove a blood clot from his right shoulder.
Last season, Detroit Pistons forward Ausar Thompson’s campaign was cut short due to a blood clot. He returned this season near the end of November after eight months away from the court. In another serious case, Chris Bosh was diagnosed with clots in his left calf and lungs that forced him into an early retirement.
The physical stress on Wembanyama in the last month has been significant, given the Spurs’ recent travel schedule. Last month, the team flew to Paris, where Wembanyama is from, for a hectic, emotional week of two games. After another two weeks of play in the U.S., Wembanyama, a 7-foot-4 rim-protecting machine, flew to San Francisco to compete in the NBA’s skills challenge Saturday night and the league’s first All-Star tournament Sunday.
Team sources noticed Wembanyama laboring during play recently and experiencing shortness of breath, initially thought to be caused by congestion from allergies in the Texas air. But after Wembanyama experienced continued lethargy last weekend and during his two days off, he underwent testing that confirmed the blood clot.
“We actually know that the taller you are, the more likely you are to have blood clots, so it’s interesting that this happened to one of the tallest, if not the tallest player in the NBA,” said Dr. Geoffrey Barnes, a cardiologist, vascular medicine specialist and international anticoagulation expert from University of Michigan Health.
Barnes, who has not consulted on Wembanyama’s condition and is unaware of the specifics of the case, said clots in the upper arms are common among baseball pitchers, weightlifters, swimmers and basketball players. He said surgery would be an option if “there is something structurally impeding” the veins near his shoulder that caused the clot.
“If there’s nothing that’s structurally impeding (the vein), then really it’s just from the movement (of his muscles),” Barnes continued. “In those cases, then it tends to be more of medicines that we use to prevent this from coming back.”
The Spurs said they would provide updates on Wembanyama’s condition as appropriate.
In another matter that is trivial in the grander scheme of his health and career longevity, Wembanyama’s season likely will end at 46 games, which means he will not be eligible for any regular-season awards, including NBA Defensive Player of the Year.
San Antonio’s bench is already without legendary coach Gregg Popovich, who suffered a stroke in early November. Popovich, 76, continues to recover at home, and as of last month, Spurs chief executive R.C. Buford said Popovich was expected to return to the bench at some point, though there was no timetable for such a return.
Paul said the Spurs, who made a big trade earlier this month to acquire De’Aaron Fox, still intend to make a push for the playoffs but acknowledged that losing their coach and then their best player would be a difficult challenge.
“Trust me, you can’t replace Vic,” said Paul, a 6-foot guard. “I can’t stand on a guy’s shoulder and block every shot that comes to the rim.”
— The Athletic’s Sam Amick contributed to this report.
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