Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama expected to miss remainder of season with blood clot in right shoulder

Victor Wembanyama’s 2024-25 season is likely over.

The San Antonio Spurs star has deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder, which is expected to sideline him for the remainder of the year, the team announced Thursday.

The deep vein thrombosis, more commonly known as a blood clot, was discovered when Wembanyama returned to the team from the 2025 NBA All-Star Game. Wembanyama was dealing with low energy recently and during All-Star Weekend, causing the evaluation that found he had a blood clot, The Athletic reported. 

The Spurs believe the blood clot is an isolated condition and are hopeful that he’ll make a full recovery, according to ESPN.

Wembanyama has lived up to the incredibly high expectations that surrounded him when the Spurs selected him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft this season. He’s averaging 24.3 points, 11 rebounds and 3.7 rebounds per game, adding a league-high 3.8 blocks per game. Those stats helped Wembanyama earn his first All-Star nod and placed him as the front-runner for Defensive Player of the Year. However, Wembanyama will fall short of the 65-game threshold in order to be eligible for individual performance awards at the end of the season, ruling him out from winning his first Defensive Player of the Year award.

With Wembanyama’s rise, the Spurs became a playoff hopeful this season. They made one of the biggest moves ahead of the NBA’s trade deadline earlier in February, landing All-Star point guard De’Aaron Fox in a three-team trade with the Sacramento Kings. The move added some more pop to the Spurs’ backcourt, which already had future Hall of Famer Chris Paul and Rookie of the Year favorite Stephon Castle.

However, Wembanyama’s injury will almost certainly change the trajectory of the Spurs’ season. They were already on the outside looking in with a 23-29 record, sitting in 12th place in the Western Conference and 3.5 games back of the Golden State Warriors for the final play-in spot in the Western Conference. The Portland Trail Blazers trail them by a game as well, potentially putting the Spurs more in play to receive the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.

There have been a few notable NBA players who’ve dealt with blood clots in recent years. Hall of Fame big Chris Bosh effectively had his career ended by blood clots in 2016, dealing with the issue in his legs. Brandon Ingram’s 2018-19 season ended prematurely due to a blood clot in his arm. He returned for the start of the 2019-20 season when he was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans and won Most Improved Player of the Year. Detroit Pistons forward Ausar Thompson also had a season-ending blood clot issue in 2023-24, but returned to action this season. 

The Spurs have also been without long-time head coach Gregg Popovich for much of the season. Popovich took a leave of absence in November after suffering a mild stroke. It isn’t clear if he’ll return to the team this season, with assistant Mitch Johnson serving as the interim coach.

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