Victor Wembanyama Admits Staff Had To Hold Him Back From Re-entering Spurs-Knicks Despite Hypertension Knee Injury

An NBA player going down in the middle of a game clutching his knee is always a heart-in-the-mouth moment. Unfortunately, for the second time this week, an MVP-esque star went down that way. It was Victor Wembanyama, who gave the San Antonio Spurs fanbase quite the scare.

Wembanyama was going for a rebound in Wednesday’s game against the New York Knicks when he landed awkwardly and then hobbled off the court. It did not look good at first, but just like with the Nikola Jokic injury, a major issue was avoided. The Frenchman was reported to have suffered a knee hyperextension, which means he is not expected to miss significant time.

Things, however, could have been very different had Wembanyama brushed off his injury and returned mid-game. Thankfully, those in charge intervened, according to the Spurs big man himself.

“I was this close to going back into the game, but they had to hold me back,” Wembanyama said after the Spurs won 134-132. Thankfully they did, or else things may have worsened and San Antonio would lose their best player for a longer period of time.

Wembanyama, meanwhile, realized almost immediately after going down that he had not seriously hurt himself. Spurs fans were understandably distressed, but as he made his way back to the locker room under his own power, nearly jogging, he mouthed to concerned supporters that he was fine. It drew what was arguably the biggest cheer of the night.

NBA insider Shams Charania later added further reassurance by reporting that Wembanyama had avoided any major injury and had suffered only a “slight hyperextension” in his left knee. There does not appear to be a timeline for his return, which can be viewed positively, as neither Charania nor others have suggested that Wembanyama will need to miss time at all.

Hyperextensions can be serious, though, with Jokic, who suffered a similar injury, set to miss at least four weeks of basketball. That difference may have a lot to do with how each player trains. Wembanyama, who is 7’4” with a much lankier build than Jokic, needs to work unusually hard to remain injury resistant.

“As NBA players, injury prevention is what we do the most,” Wembanyama said in an older interview. “It’s so simple because we need it, and there’s some simple exercises that can really help, like isometric holds, because they don’t put as much stress on the joints.”