It appears the San Antonio Spurs will get their most important player back for the 2025-26 season. Victor Wembanyama told L’Équipe that he has officially recovered from the blood clot in his shoulder that sidelined him for the season after playing in only 46 games. Wembanyama said he has been cleared “to return.”
“I’m officially cleared to return. It just happened — I got the green light from the Spurs’ medical staff just a few hours ago (last Friday),” Wembanyama said, via Maxime Aubin. “Phew, I’ll finally be able to play a bit of basketball again!”
In February, the Spurs announced that Wembanyama would miss the remainder of the season due to deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder. The condition was discovered after he returned from All-Star Weekend. San Antonio expressed confidence that Wembanyama would make a full recovery for the start of next season, and it appears the team’s optimism was well-founded.
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Before being sidelined, Wembanyama averaged 24.3 points, 11 rebounds, 3.7 assists and a league-leading 3.8 blocks per contest. The 21-year-old center has led the league in blocks in each of his two NBA seasons. Wembanyama was the favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year and earn All-NBA before being shut down.
The Spurs ended up finishing 34-48, but appear to be well-positioned for future success. With Wembanyama back in the fold, the Spurs will pair him with De’Aaron Fox, who was acquired at last year’s trade deadline, and No. 2 pick Dylan Harper. The Spurs also return steady forward Devin Vassell and Rookie of the Year guard Stephon Castle and added big men Luke Kornet and Kelly Olynyk to back up Wembanyama, as well as rookie Carter Bryant, the No. 14 pick in this year’s draft.
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