Victor Wembanyama is under strict orders from the San Antonio Spurs to not touch a basketball.
The French superstar was ruled out for the remainder of the season due to deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder. While the team is optimistic Wembanyama will make a full recovery, there is clearly a very cautious approach in getting him there.
Other details of the regimen Wembanyama is being made to follow currently were not disclosed.
“Some of the stuff that has already been discussed [regarding Wembanyama’s treatment], we’ll probably keep it in-house for now,” San Antonio acting head coach Mitch Johnson said. “Everything is as we said initially. No long-term effects on his health and basketball activities.”
Team doctors did give Wembanyama the green light to travel with the team to Sacramento. It’s a big occasion as De’Aaron Fox’s return game against his former team. It was considered safe to do so because of the specific type of blood-thinning medication he is taking to treat the blood clot.
Wembanyama spent time seated on his phone as the Spurs team went through shootaround in Sacramento.
“What [Wembanyama is] going through is definitely tough,” Fox said. “For us, we just want him to be healthy. We want him to be healthy enough to be able to get on a plane to be able to support us as a team. That’s what he wants to do anyway.”
Wembanyama Leadership Standing Out
The 21-year-old has been a consistent presence on the Spurs bench since being ruled out for the season. Making this road trip to support Fox in his first game back in Sacramento since the trade shows true leadership.
He is the face of the franchise and could easily take the safe route in managing a scary diagnosis. Not that what he’s doing is unsafe, but no one would question him if he wasn’t present for this game.
Wembanyama finished the 2024-25 season having played 46 games. He averaged 24.3 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.1 steals, and 3.8 blocks.
