French basketball prodigy Victor Wembanyama aggravated an ankle injury on Saturday when he tripped on a ball boy in training before the match between the San Antonio Spurs and the Dallas Mavericks.
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Hard blow for the gifted Frenchman in the NBA. Victor Wembanyama did not participate in the match lost by the San Antonio Spurs against the Dallas Mavericks (144-119), Saturday, December 23, after aggravating the pain in his right ankle during the warm-up.
The French giant (2.24m) was warming up on the floor of the American Airlines Center before the match. After scoring a basket, he tripped on the foot of a Mavs ball boy who was standing on the baseline, spraining his ankle. Frustrated, “Wemby” returned to the locker room.
🤕 𝗟𝗮 𝘁𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗲 pour Victor Wembanyama, forfait à Dallas après s’être 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗲́ 𝗹𝗮 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲 en marchant sur un employé des Mavs…
Spurs preferred not to take any risks with him, even if “Wemby” wanted to play. pic.twitter.com/4TDwyPAJPZ
— Basket USA 🏀 (@basketusa) December 24, 2023
His ankle was taped and he returned to the floor intending to play, but the Spurs later announced he would not play the game.
Quality individual statistics
The rookie, No. 1 in the draft, had already missed the match against the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday due to pain in the same ankle, before playing 22 minutes against Chicago on Thursday, giving a poor performance (7 points, 5 rebounds).
Before the game against the Mavs, coach Gregg Popovich announced that Wembanyama would not play the entire game. “Wemby” has only missed three games this season, having withdrawn on December 1, during a match against the Pelicans due to right hip pain.
Dead last in the Western Conference (4 wins, 24 losses), the Spurs probably do not want to take any risks with their young star.
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Wembanyama presents very good individual statistics for a beginner (18.5 points, 10.7 rebounds and 3 blocks on average), but he continues defeats with Spurs who are often clumsy and regularly swept aside by their opponents.
With AFP
