Victor Wembanyama and the No. 2-seeded San Antonio Spurs face the surprising Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the NBA playoffs starting Sunday, as a new report from a leading sports medicine doctor answers the most pressing question on the minds of the Spurs and their fans: will Wembanyama be able to play the entire series?
Wembanyama fell during the Spurs’ April 6 game against the Philadelphia 76ers and suffered what the team described as a “rib contusion.” The 2023 No. 1 overall draft pick then sat out two of San Antonio’s final three games.
Wembanyama’s status was listed as day to day, and in the game that he played of those final three, he logged just 26 minutes, enough to qualify him for postseason award eligibility.
On Wednesday, Spurs first-year head coach Mitch Johnson expressed no worries about Wembanyama heading into the playoffs, saying that the 22-year-old, 7-foot-4 center was fully prepared to play in Game 1 against Portland on Sunday.
But what about the remainder of the Trail Blazers series? Wembanyama himself said on Wednesday that he was not at “100%” health, adding only that he was “close to being really good.”
Sports Doctor Says Wembanyama Is Healthy Enough
According to a report published Thursday by Sports Injury Central, a site founded and primarily authored by former NFL team physician Dr. David Chao, Wembanyama is healthy enough to make it through the first-round series.
“San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama is entering the playoffs while dealing with a lingering left-side rib contusion suffered late in the regular season,” according to the site’s report. “The injury occurred after a collision with Paul George, forcing Wembanyama to miss the second half of that game and additional contests during the final week of the regular season. Even so, Wembanyama indicated he is close to full game shape as the postseason begins.”
The Sports Injury Central report went on to cite Chao as saying, “Wembanyama is expected to play and push through the injury in the playoffs.”
In his third season, Wembanyama will be making his first trip to the postseason, after guiding the five-time NBA champion franchise back from a six-year playoff absence.
All five of the Spurs titles, as well as their six-year playoff drought, occurred under legendary head coach Greg Popovich, who helmed San Antonio for 29 consecutive seasons before retiring after last season at age 76. In his first 23 seasons, the Spurs qualified for the playoffs every year.
Wembanyama Already Has Lengthy Injury History
Though he has been in the NBA for only three seasons, Wembanyama has already compiled a lengthy resumé of injuries. Though he played an impressive 71 games in his rookie season, which is not uncommon for a player of his height, especially one who came into the league expected to be the savior of the San Antonio franchise at age 19, he was limited by health issues throughout the campaign.
“Wembanyama suffered a series of lower-body injuries to start his career, including ankle and hip issues,” in his rookie season, according to a FanSided inventory of the star center’s health issues.
In his sophomore season, the French native “missed various games with knee and back injuries, as well as an illness in February.” But he was also diagnosed with a serious blood clotting issue in his shoulder and missed the final 52 games of that season.
Before sustaining the rib injury April 6, Wembanyama missed time this season with relatively minor ankle and calf injuries.
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