Victor Wembanyama was forced out of the second half of the San Antonio Spurs’ 115-102 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night after suffering a left rib contusion, casting doubt on his availability for the remainder of the regular season.
The 7-foot-4 standout was struck in the ribs by an inadvertent elbow from Paul George while sprinting on a fast break with 10:49 left in the first half.
The collision sent Wembanyama crashing to the floor, where he remained down for about a minute as George offered an apologetic gesture.
The severity of the injury remains unclear, leaving his status uncertain for San Antonio’s final three home games against the Portland Trail Blazers, Dallas Mavericks and Denver Nuggets.
“At halftime I was told he wasn't coming back, and I honestly haven’t heard anything else up to this point,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said after the win.
Wembanyama subbed out of the game shortly after the collision and immediately went into the tunnel leading to the locker room, keeping his arm pressed to his side.
He returned with 5:33 remaining in the period but asked Popovich to take him out with 44 seconds left in the first half. He again went into the tunnel holding his arm to his side and was ruled out at the start of the second half.
“I think it would be a positive that he felt like he could come back and played the last four or five minutes of the half,” Popovich said. “That’s a positive from my perspective, but I have nothing as far as a status update.”
George was not available for comment after the game.
Wembanyama had 17 points, five rebounds and three blocks while playing 15:40 in the first half.
Wembanyama has made it clear he wants to win the league’s MVP award this season. The NBA allows a maximum of two games in which a player logs between 15 and 19:59 minutes to count toward the league-required minimum of 65 games played for award eligibility.
He has played 63 games this season, including the NBA Cup Final.
San Antonio (60-19) is 2.5 games behind Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City (62-16) and is assured of finishing no worse than second in the conference.
