{"id":265336,"date":"2026-04-25T03:13:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T03:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/265336\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T03:13:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T03:13:09","slug":"wemby-unavailable-for-game-3-still-recovering-from-concussion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/265336\/","title":{"rendered":"Wemby unavailable for Game 3, still recovering from concussion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Update at 8:30 p.m. Friday, April 24: During a pre-game presser, San Antonio Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson told reporters Victor Wembanyama is not playing tonight.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Victor Wembanyama traveled with the San Antonio Spurs to Portland for games this weekend while continuing to complete the steps mandated by the league’s concussion protocol.<\/p>\n

Spurs coach Mitch Johnson stopped short Thursday of saying Wembanyama will play in Game 3. Wembanyama is \u201cprogressing,\u201d Johnson said, but his status against the Trail Blazers remains uncertain.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe looks good,\u201d Johnson said, noting that the Spurs hadn’t even started discussions on when Wembanyama can play again.<\/p>\n

The Spurs listed him as questionable to play Friday in Game 3.<\/p>\n

Wembanyama was at the team’s practice facility for a second consecutive day Thursday, walking around in a black hoodie and gray sweatpants. He even got a few shots up, teammate Julian Champagnie said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was only around for a little bit this morning,\u201d Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox said Thursday. \u201cObviously, we just want him to be healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wembanyama \u2014 the league’s first-ever unanimous Defensive Player of the Year and one of three finalists for the Most Valuable Player award \u2014 suffered a concussion<\/a> in the Spurs’ Game 2 loss to Portland on Tuesday night, leaving the game in the second quarter.<\/p>\n

The series is tied 1-1. Game 4 is Sunday, also in Portland.<\/p>\n

There are very specific steps that players have to clear before being removed from the league’s concussion protocol. Players begin the return-to-play process with light exertion \u2014 such as riding a stationary bike, jogging, agility work and non-contact basketball drills \u2014 and each step is followed by another neurological examination.<\/p>\n

Wembanyama’s results will also be compared to his baseline neurological evaluation \u2014 which players undergo prior to each season \u2014 before doctors permit him to move forward in the return-to-play plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s pretty straightforward,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cObviously, we hope he’ll be back at some point. But we’ll allow the protocol to play out. And again, there’s nothing more important than his health.\u201d<\/p>\n

Any extended absence by Wembanyama would be a massive blow to San Antonio, which finished with the league\u2019s second-best record behind the versatile 7-foot-4 center from France. They were 12-6 in the regular season without Wembanyama.<\/p>\n

Wembanyama averaged 25 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and a league-best 3.1 blocks per game this season. He was also with his teammates on Wednesday evening, when they all donned cowboy hats and surprised teammate Keldon Johnson after he was announced as the league’s Sixth Man of the Year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that he’s chomping at the bit to get back on the court and be with his guys,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Update at 8:30 p.m. Friday, April 24: During a pre-game presser, San Antonio Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":262996,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[88427,16024,45620,41579,15131,820,23681,202,11730,196,88116,42094,43368,942,82,84,83,98497,509],"class_list":{"0":"post-265336","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-ap-test","9":"tag-deaaron-fox","10":"tag-julian-champagnie","11":"tag-keldon-johnson","12":"tag-mitch-johnson","13":"tag-mysastaff","14":"tag-package-100024-ap-online","15":"tag-package-100502-member-choice-sports-option","16":"tag-portland","17":"tag-product-30599-ap-sports-news-s-wire-only","18":"tag-product-32001-ap-online-basketball-news","19":"tag-product-32562-ap-online-other-sports-news","20":"tag-product-40808-ap-oregon-sports-only","21":"tag-product-40815-ap-texas-sports-only","22":"tag-san-antonio","23":"tag-san-antonio-headlines","24":"tag-san-antonio-news","25":"tag-spurs-victor-wembanyama-concussion","26":"tag-victor-wembanyama"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265336\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/262996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}