Thoughts on the Wembanyama Season Ending Injury

It was announced a few days ago that Spurs unicorn Victor Wembanyama is going to miss the rest of the NBA season due to a blood clot in his shoulder. Let’s discuss.

When I first saw the news it bummed me out. I also had the fleeting thought of, is this just the start of an injury riddled what could have been a type of career for him. Wemby is unlike any NBA player I have ever watched. He is gigantic. He stands at 7'4 and he looks every bit of it. He is an intimidating interior defender already. He can block shots out on the perimeter in a split second. He was going to win his first DPOY this season. He can dribble like a guard. He can shoot threes. He is quick. He was getting better playing in the low post. He announced himself during his rookie season, he struck fear in everyone who watched him in the summer Olympics and he was coming off his first all star appearance. He did all of this, and has all these skills, before he is even close to his prime. Wemby's best days are yet to come. But now he has this blood clot injury.

I didn't know what to make of it at first, but then I saw someone say this was the same thing that Chris Bosh dealt with near the end of his career. Bosh was never the same player after his injury. But, Bosh had a full career up to that point. He was an all star, a champ, a player of note in the NBA. No disrespect to Bosh, but Wemby has loftier goals and he was, and he can still be, on his way to being the face of the NBA post LeBron James. Now, who knows what is going to happen to him and the Spurs. The Spurs were not going to be a real threat this season, but they were on their way to fighting for a play-in spot in the West, which is going to be a tough get by the end of the season. Wemby was starting to really excel in spots that some thought might be a struggle for him. He was becoming this incredible defender. He was scoring everywhere on the floor. He was making his name for himself in the league and carving out his spot as the guy. He was playing better with a real point guard in Chris Paul. The Spurs went out and got De'Aaron Fox in one of the better trades of the past decade. The other young guys the Spurs have been drafting were figuring out their role with Wemby as the star player and focal point of the offense and defense. This whole experiment post Tim Duncan was starting to come together for them. And now they are without the guy that makes the engine run.

I see no real good out of this other than the fact that Stephon Castle, who is awesome already, will get more run and more shots. This is going to slow down the progress the Spurs were hoping to capitalize on soon. The Spurs sit a few games below .500 now, and with Wemby out who knows how far they'll fall. But I think they already have too many wins to have a real shot at drafting any of the big name prospects in the upcoming draft. But what makes injury so much of a bummer for me, as an NBA fan, I was watching a ton of Spurs games because I want to watch Wemby as much as possible. He is a gift to basketball fans. He is so unique. He is the first of his kind. He makes the game of basketball fun. He makes the game of basketball effortless when he plays, and that is a joy to watch.

This is a bummer. This is not what the NBA needs coming off another bad all star weekend. I hope it doesn't affect the long term in Wemby's career. That would stink for the NBA, but more so, for Wemby.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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