Victor Wembanyama’s return from injury has coincided with the San Antonio Spurs surging up the NBA’s Western Conference standings. They sit alone in second place entering back-to-back games against the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder beginning Tuesday, Dec. 23 in Texas and concluding with a Christmas day showcase in Oklahoma on Thursday.
These will be the second and third meetings between the Thunder and Spurs in less than two weeks after San Antonio beat OKC, 111-109, in an NBA Cup semifinal matchup on Dec. 13. That was Wembanyama’s first game back from a left calf strain that sidelined him for more than a month of action. San Antonio hasn’t lost with him in the lineup, part of a six-game winning streak.
The 7-foot-4 French star has been on a minutes restriction of late, but he remains an emerging force after starting his third NBA season in the early MVP conversation before his injury. But Wembanyama’s status for Tuesday’s pre-Christmas game against the Thunder is up in the air after the release of the team’s initial injury report.
Here’s the latest injury update on Wembanyama ahead of the San Antonio Spurs’ Dec. 23 game against the Oklahoma City Thunder:
Is Victor Wembanyama playing today?
Maybe. Wembanyama has appeared in the Spurs’ past four games since initially returning from a left calf strain on Dec. 13. But the team has listed him as questionable on the injury report ahead of San Antonio’s Dec. 23 matchup at home with the Oklahoma City Thunder in relation to injury management for his left calf.
Victor Wembanyama injury update
“That’s going to be the plan until it’s not,’ Johnson told reporters, according to FOX San Antonio. ‘The season’s long and grueling. … It’s a treacherous schedule, and so we have to continue to just take it day by day on how he’s feeling, how he’s reacting. And because of what he’s had recently, we are overly mindful of that and other guys in that same situation, but specifically because of his unique anatomy and situation,” explained Johnson.
Victor Wembanyama stats
Wembanyama is off to a strong start in his third NBA season, averaging a career-high 24.4 points and 12.3 rebounds per game. He’s also averaging 3.3 blocks per game while shooting better than 50% from the floor for the first time in his NBA career.