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.
Published on :
2 mins
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, โWembyโ returned to the locker room.
๐ค ๐๐ฎ ๐๐๐ถ๐น๐ฒ pour Victor Wembanyama, forfait ร Dallas aprรจs sโรชtre ๐ณ๐ผ๐๐น๐ฒฬ ๐น๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐น๐น๐ฒ en marchant sur un employรฉ des Mavsโฆ
Spurs preferred not to take any risks with him, even if โWembyโ wanted to play. pic.twitter.com/4TDwyPAJPZ
โ Basket USA ๐ (@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. โWembyโ has only missed three games this season, having withdrawn on December 1, during a match against the Pelicans due to right hip pain.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.
See alsoFrom Tony Parker to Victor Wembanyama: the beautiful story of the Blues in the NBA
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