NBA: images of Wembanyama’s stupid injury with a ball boy before the Spurs match

2023-12-24 15:04:11

It was an action that seemed most innocuous. Anecdotal even. And yet it had the consequence of sending Victor Wembanyama to the bench, ice pack on his right ankle, all evening. Instead of facing Luka Doncic, in a tantalizing duel of prodigies, the Frenchy experienced the new rout of the San Antonio Spurs (144-119) in a tracksuit. The black look. This is the third game he has missed since the start of the NBA season.

The fault therefore lies in an injury contracted “stupidly” during the warm-up of the match. “It was a crazy incident, in my entire career, I had never seen someone get injured like that,” reacted Gregg Popovich, the iconic Spurs coach, 28 seasons under the clock in the NBA, at a press conference at the end of the meeting. If you watch the video, you hardly believe it. » “It was really weird, you never see that,” confirmed Jeremy Sochan, Wembanyama’s playing partner.

The scene therefore takes place during the warm-up. As usual, the number 1 of the last NBA draft multiplies the movements and shots without opposition with a member of the Spurs staff. After scoring a delicate layup, Wemby continued his run and accidentally stepped on the foot of a Dallas ball boy who was just behind the baseline. In the images we see his ankle turning. But, at first, the former Nanterre and Mets player seemed more surprised than hurt. He even seems to apologize to the “ball boy”.

Victor Wembanyama ends his pre-game work out early and heads to the locker room frustrated after landing awkwardly on one of the Mavs employees under the basket. pic.twitter.com/wURajkU498

— Landon Thomas (@sixfivelando) December 24, 2023

But quickly the person concerned understands that the injury is not so trivial. In the images, we see the Frenchman’s face close, as if he has just understood that he will not be able to hold his place. He also decides to interrupt the session. Finally the Spurs staff announced the withdrawal of their player. As a precautionary measure. “He maybe could have played, he probably could have played,” Popovich said. If it had been a playoff game, I probably would have played him. »

But as the Spurs are languishing in last place in the Western Conference standings (24 defeats for 4 wins) and have nothing to play sportingly, the staff preferred not to take the risk of aggravating the injury of their “alien “.

At the start of the week, Wembanyama had already missed a match due to pain in the same ankle. The Spurs play their next match on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday (in France) against the Jazz. The French demiurge should be back.