Wembanyama Concussion Clouds Spurs' Series After Game 2 Loss

The San Antonio Spurs enjoyed the MVP-caliber campaign of their star all season long, and now that they’ve made it to the postseason, they may have to do things without him. About 12 minutes into their Game 2 playoff loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, Spurs center Victor Wembanyama drove the basket, and took a spill as Jrue Holiday defended him. He landed chin first, and his eyes briefly closed as he appeared to temporarily be knocked out in a frightening moment that silenced Frost Bank Center on Tuesday night. Wembanyama suffered a concussion that caused him to exit the Game 2 106-103 loss that now evened out the series 1-1 ahead of Friday’s Game 3 in Portland.

It was a frightening scene, where teammates rushed over as the team called timeout and fans’ chants of his name began reverberating throughout the arena. Holiday was called for a non-shooting foul. After Wembanyama exited through the tunnel, he ultimately was ruled out and left the arena before the final buzzer of the defeat. Wembanyama will now be in NBA concussion protocol, which dictates that they can have no full participation for 48 hours following the injury, but that things can gradually ramp up after 24 hours – as long as symptoms don’t worsen. Wembanyama will need to hit several benchmarks and remain symptom free in order to be cleared by both the team doctor and the league. The timeline ahead of Friday in Portland is a bit tight for that.

Here is the full story from Spurs Roundtable writer Jonah Kubicek on the identity the team can lean into in the absence of Wembanyama.

Wembanyama became the youngest-ever unanimous NBA Defensive Player of the Year and the first to win it with all votes. Wembanyama averaged a career-high 25 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 3.1 blocks, and one steal per game through the regular season campaign. The Spurs swept the Trail Blazers without Wembanyama. But the playoffs, as everyone knows, are a different beast.