Spurs expect Victor Wembanyama to return next season: ‘No concern for [his long-term] health’

The San Antonio Spurs expect Victor Wembanyama to be healthy enough to play by the start of next season.

Wembanyama has been shut down for the remainder of the 2024-25 season because of a blood clot in his shoulder. Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said before the team’s game against the Phoenix Suns Thursday night that “there is no concern for Victor’s [long-term] health personally or his basketball activities,” according to the San Antonio Express-News.

Wembanyama had reportedly lacked energy leading into All-Star weekend and said afterward that his arm “didn’t feel completely normal,” the Express-News reported.

“That was articulated to our medical staff,” Johnson said. “They looked into it and that’s how we got here.”

Wembanyama is the latest NBA player to be diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis in recent years. His condition is not believed to be as serious as that of Hall of Fame forward Chris Bosh, who missed the remainder of the 2014-15 season with the Miami Heat after developing a blood clot in his lung. Bosh’s announcement came 10 years and one day prior to the Spurs shutting down Wembanyama. He returned for the first half of the following season, but was diagnosed with another blood clot in his calf, forcing him to miss the remainder of the 2015-16 schedule. The injury essentially ended his career.

Toronto Raptors forward Brandon Ingram missed the remainder of the 2018-19 season after he developed deep vein thrombosis in his right arm while with the Los Angeles Lakers. Second-year Detroit Pistons forward Ausur Thompson also was sidelined for nearly eight months, beginning in early March of his rookie season after he was diagnosed with a blood clot.

The Spurs have not provided a specific timeline for Wembanyama’s return, saying only that he is “expected to miss” the rest of the regular season.