Put the words “Victor Wembanyama,” “knee,” and “hyperextension” in the same sentence and Spurs fans — as well as basketball fans everywhere — are understandably nervous. However, things do not appear to be serious.
Victor Wembanyama left the Spurs’ win over the Knicks in the fourth quarter after landing awkwardly coming down with a rebound next to Karl-Anthony Towns, clearly hyperextending his knee. Wembanyama instantly was on the ground in some pain, then hopped directly back to the locker room but was telling fans along the way he was fine.
The initial tests came back negative for any serious structural damage, reports Shams Charania of ESPN, who called it a “slight” hyperextension. Wembanyama was back on the bench with his teammates for the end of the game, and postgame played down any injury.
“Feeling good. Just sore. Very confident… I mean, I was this close to coming back in the game, but they had to hold me back (laughs). The good thing is that it was just a hyper extension. So, it should be minimal, whatever the thing is. But yeah, we’re going to do everything tomorrow still to check that everything’s okay.”
The MRI coming on Thursday will tell us a lot more. While Wembanyama is playing this down, a hyperextension can lead to a bone bruise and missed time — as recently happened with Nikola Jokic. Players often play down the severity of their injuries, but let’s hope that is not the case here.
As for the game itself, San Antonio’s Julian Champagnie hit 11-of-17 from 3-point range and finished with 36 points, sparking a comeback win over New York. Wembanyama finished the game with 31 points and 13 rebounds.