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Victor Wembanyama injury update: NBA insider reveals recovery timeline for Spurs star

Brian Jones Profile Picby:Brian Jones•02/20/25•

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Victor Wembanyama
Jan 31, 2025; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) rests before a game against the Milwaukee Bucks at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

The San Antonio Spurs are shutting down Victor Wembanyama for the rest of the season due to a deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder. Brian Windhorst, NBA insider for ESPN, spoke about Wembanyama’s injury and talked about him being out of action for six months since it’s a form of a blood clot.

“Knowing what I know about Victory Wembanyama, the competitor that he is, he’s going to be crushed by this,” Windhorst said on SportsCenter. “…He is going to be extraordinarily upset, he’s a diligent worker, he works every day on his game, he’s extremely focused, he was probably very focused on getting the Spurs to the playoffs this year. Him having to shut down is going to be very, very difficult.

“You can do certain physical activity, you just can’t play contact sports because the blood thinner that they give you basically to make sure the blood clot doesn’t travel to your heart creates the danger of internal bleeding. You can’t increase the chance of not getting hit in the head or falling or something like that. You just have to be very careful, the medication is extremely effective. He will be on it, he will be healthy, he will be off of it and he will hopefully move on and never deal with this again.”

Victor Wembanyama was having an MVP-type season

Windhorst continued, “But it is not negotiable. It’s not like it’s something you can play through. Once you’re diagnosed with this, unfortunately, it’s to the shelf with you and you got to take care of your body. That’s why the Spurs know today he’s out for the season.”

The loss of Victor Wembanyama is big for the Spurs and the NBA. The 21-year-old was selected by the Spurs at No. 1 overall in the 2023 NBA Draft and had a memorable rookie season. During the 2023-24 season, Wembanyama averaged 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds and an NBA-leading 3.6 blockers per game. He was selected to the NBA All-Rookie First Team, the All-Defensive First Team and won the Rookie of the Year award.

For the 2024-25 season, Wembanyama was having an MVP-type season. In 46 games, the second-year center was averaging 24.3 points, 11 rebounds and 3.8 blocks per contest.