SACRAMENTO – Victor Wembanyama made a surprising appearance with the San Antonio Spurs in California to support his teammates and be present for De’Aaron Fox’s return to Sacramento.
“What Wembanyama is going through is definitely tough,” Fox said at Friday’s morning shootaround. “For us, we just want him to be healthy. We want him to be healthy enough to be able to get on a plane to support us as a team. That’s what he wants to do anyway.”
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Wembanyama has not been able to fly since his season ended prematurely in February due to deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder.
However, ESPN’s Michael C. Wright reports that team doctors have deemed it safe for Wembanyama to fly, thanks to the specific type of blood-thinning medication to treat the blood clot.
“There was no health risk or reason for him not to come,” acting head coach Mitch Johnson said during his pregame press conference Friday. “He wants to be with his teammates as much as possible, so I think we’ll see him as much as the doctors allow him to. I think it’s as simple as that. He wants to be with his team. Being away from them is taking a toll on him.”
Johnson added that he’s unsure if Wembanyama will make the flight for the Spurs' next game in Minnesota on Sunday, March 9.
“There’ll be nothing that’s more prioritized than his health and what he needs to do to get back and be healthy and ready to go, but he’ll be with us as much as possible,” Johnson said.
“For us, we want him to be as healthy as possible because blood clots can be a dangerous thing for sure,” Fox said.