The injury to Victor Wembanyama has marked a turning point in the San Antonio Spurs’ postseason. Though it might be a while before fans see the 7-foot-4 French phenom suiting up for the Spurs again, Wembanyama turned heads with his level of mobility prior to Game 3 of the Spurs-Blazers series.
In a viral clip coming out of Moda Center, Wemby was seen running sprints along the halfcourt line. From the looks of it, the Spurs center was moving comfortably and without any complications.
Running sprints in this manner is about as far as Victor Wembanyama can go in terms of physical participation at this point. Under the NBA’s concussion protocol, a player has to abide by strict limitations as far as participation in team activities is concerned.
Full participation is prohibited up until 48 hours after the injury takes place, though a player can gradually resume activity after 24 hours, provided that his symptoms don’t get worse.
Spurs fans, of course, were hoping to get every ounce of Wembanyama’s brilliance in his playoff debut. However, his nasty fall in Game 2 has now put San Antonio in a precarious situation.
The Spurs have lost homecourt advantage after losing to the Trail Blazers in Game 2, but they remain loaded with talent. The dynamic backcourt of Stephon Castle, De’Aaron Fox, Dylan Harper, and Devin Vassell (as well as this year’s Sixth Man of the Year Keldon Johnson) has plenty of firepower to contend with Deni Avdija’s Blazers squad.
“The Kids Got Tight”: Analyst Voices Out Concern Over Spurs’ Inexperience Amidst Victor Wembanyama’s Scary Injury
One analyst who doesn’t think highly of the Spurs’ maturity is Colin Cowherd. After Victor Wembanyama was placed in the concussion protocol, Cowherd called out his teammates for not responding well.
“With no Wemby, now Portland could attack the rim late. And so the kids got tight! This has always been the concern.”
It will be interesting to see how Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson will rally his troops for the rest of this series as Wembanyama continues to recover.
