Victor Wembanyama injury news leaves NBA fans with questions about DPOY eligibility: “He was punished for having blod clots”

 

Victor Wembanyama has been declared out for the remainder of the NBA season

Victor Wembanyama has tragically been ruled out for the rest of the 2024-25 NBA season after being diagnosed with a shoulder blood clot. The San Antonio Spurs’ franchise player was on course to record a historic sophomore year in the NBA. The 7’3.5″ behemoth averaged a whopping 3.8 blocks per game and was a prohibitive favorite for DPOY honors before this injury news unraveled.

So good were his odds, in fact, that Wembanyama was a -3500 favorite to win DPOY as a second-year player. Many NBA fans believe that he was good enough to have won the award in his rookie season. His play on that end this year was an improvement even on his historic rookie year. By the eye test, the Frenchman was all but a shoo-in for the trophy.

Victor Wembanyama has put together a historic 46-game run of sorts, nonetheless. The 21-year-old is 17th in the NBA in scoring so far, averaging 24.3 points per game. His statline of 24.3 points, 11 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.1 steals and 3.8 blocks per game would make for a good MVP season if at all the Spurs had a stake in this year’s championship odds.

Blood clot troubles have afflicted their unfair share of basketball Hall of Famers. Chris Bosh notably had to retire after the 2015-16 season due to this extremely rare occurrence. All-Stars DeAndre Jordan and Brandon Ingram have also spent time out of basketball due to this cardiovascular irregularity.

It has been a real shame to see Wembanyama out of action – the sophomore had only just made his imprint during his first All-Star game appearance this past weekend. The San Antonio Spurs will doubtless stop competing for a play-in spot in the days to come, opting instead to optimize their chances of landing a high pick in the 2025 NBA Draft

NBA fans react to news of Victor Wembanyama suffering from a blood clot

Hoops fans have undoubtedly got many reasons to feel aggrieved by this piece of news. For one thing, it is completely unnatural for a 21-year-old to suffer a condition of this sort at his age. It could end up being the reason for early retirement for the most alien-like player the league has seen in a long time. Injuries and disease are always a worst-case scenario for any fanbase to contemplate, and Wembanyama is universally admired and beloved.

An NBA fan echoed the sentiments of experts who took aim at the league’s 65-game minimum required for end-of-season awards eligibility. Given Wembanyama’s clearcut lead at the top of the DPOY leaderboard, this has led to a lot of uproar among fans regarding his candidature.

An NBA fan put up a suspect tweet only minutes before Wembanyama was ruled out for the rest of the season.

It goes without saying that basketball is in a better place when its best defender is in action, night in and night out. Although this could turn out to be a blessing in disguise if the Spurs end up getting lucky in the draft lottery, it is still a galling turn of events for a player who many believe has GOAT potential. Nevertheless, perhaps Wembanyama can take solace in the fact that even the GOAT Michael Jordan suffered a severe injury in his second NBA season.