Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama made a triumphant return Sunday after clearing the NBA’s concussion protocol but said he was “very disappointed” with some aspects of the process. The 22-year-old from France, named the 2026 Defensive Player of the Year and in the running for Most Valuable Player, banged his head on the court in a hard fall in last Tuesday’s game two of the Spurs’ first-round playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Spurs lost that game but won game three without him on Friday when he wasn’t cleared to play. He returned with a sparkling performance of 27 points, 11 rebounds, and seven blocked shots in Sunday’s 114-93 victory in Portland. Wembanyama said the frightening-looking fall on Tuesday was “not too much of a scary moment.” “I think it was always under control,” he said. But he admitted that “being concussed like that, very weird feeling.”
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Wembanyama said the Spurs and all of the doctors involved had “taken great care of me.” But he was clearly frustrated by the concussion protocol, which requires a 48-hour rest period followed by a gradual return to physical activity and daily neurological tests. A player must be cleared by his team and the NBA’s concussion program director in order to return to play.
After telling ESPN in an on-court interview that he was “unhappy” with how the process was handled by some of the parties involved, Wembanyama said he didn’t want to go into specifics. “I won’t get into the details,” he said. “I don’t want it to become a distraction. Ask me again at the end of the season.” “The way the situation was handled was very disappointing,” Wembanyama said. Pressed about the reasons he was given for having to sit out on Friday, Wembanyama said: “There was no reason given.”
San Antonio, the second seed in the Western Conference, lead the Trail Blazers 3-1 in their best-of-seven series and can close it out at home on Tuesday.
© 2024 AFP
