Could a wind of panic blow through San Antonio in the coming days? This is the feeling that Spurs fans must have had on Monday, when they saw their new French darling go out injured during the match against the Sixers finally won (115-102) by the Texan franchise, after a violent clash with Chris Paul.
Victim of a bruised rib at the worst of times, Wembanyama has not yet reached his quota of obligatory matches to apply for the MVP title that he so covets.
After an excellent start to the match, Victor Wembanyama found himself on the ground and complained of pain in his ribs after a collision with Paul George, during a transition phase. Left for the locker room before returning to the floor for a few minutes, the Frenchman did not return after the break, with Spurs then confirming a “contusion” for their star who had been levitating for several weeks now.
His coach Mitch Johnson did not provide further details at the press conference but said he was rather reassured by the fact that his star player was able to play again a few minutes after the blow received. “Wemby” thus compiled 17 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocks in sixteen minutes, and did not forget to put on a show, notably with a one-handed alley-oop dunk with a pass from De’Aaron Fox.
One end of the match to play to be on target
Wembanyama played his 64th game of the season on Monday, including the NBA Cup final in December, and is approaching the 65 games needed to be eligible for individual awards. For two of these matches, including that of Monday, he played between fifteen and twenty minutes, within the limits of the NBA rules which authorize two wild cards of this kind, the other matches having to include at least twenty minutes of play.
“Wemby” must therefore play at least twenty minutes in one of the last three matches of the Spurs regular season between now and Sunday to hope to win the MVP award, and recover the title of defender of the year which already seems to him to be acquired. San Antonio hosts the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday, then the Dallas Mavericks on Friday and finally the Denver Nuggets on Sunday, for a reunion with Nikola Jokic. It’s hard to imagine the worst happening
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