Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs looked to take a big step forward this season in the young star’s second year in the league. After acquiring De’Aaron Fox at the trade deadline, they were pushing for a Play-In berth in the second half of the season, but that pursuit will now be a massive undertaking for the rest of the Spurs.
On Thursday, the Spurs announced Wembanyama would miss the remainder of the regular season after he was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder. The team’s doctors discovered the condition when Wembanyama returned to San Antonio after playing in the All-Star Game. According to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, the Spurs are “optimistic” Wembanyama will make a full recovery and be ready for the start of the 2025-26 season.
It is not the first time we’ve seen a young player have a season end prematurely due to the discovery of a blood clot, as Brandon Ingram was diagnosed with DVT in his right arm back in March of 2019 with the Lakers and missed the rest of that season. Ingram was able to return the next season and resumed his career without any further issues with blood clots, and that will be the hope for Wembanyama, who looks like he is destined to be one of the NBA’s next great players.
In the immediate, the Spurs will now have to navigate the final 30 games of the regular season without their young star and the budding chemistry between Fox and Wembanyama that will be vital for their long-term future will be put on hold.