Victor Wembanyama’s feel-good season is sadly over

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The first thing I thought when I saw the Victor Wembanyama news — well, the first thing after the string of unprintable expletives — was, “Please, God, don’t let it be like Chris Bosh.”

A decade ago, Bosh — like Wembanyama, a floor-spacing, everywhere-defending, two-way linchpin for the Big Three-era Miami Heat — was coming off his 10th consecutive All-Star appearance when he complained of abdominal discomfort. After being admitted to the hospital, he was — like Wembanyama — diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis, or blood clots.

While Wembanyama’s deep vein thrombosis was reportedly found in his right shoulder, Bosh’s was found on his lung — a frightening determination that would end his season and cast the rest of his career in doubt. He’d make a brilliant return for the start of the 2015-16 NBA season, playing up to his standard and earning an 11th All-Star nod … only to be forced to pull out of the All-Star festivities due to concerns over another clot, this time in his calf. The second occurrence sent Bosh to the sideline indefinitely, touching off a series of clashes with the Heat over when, or whether, he’d ever be deemed fit to return. He never would.

Bosh failed his Heat physical in September 2016, with team president Pat Riley labeling the star forward’s career as “probably over.” A year later, player and team reached an agreement to part ways; he officially retired in 2019, more than three years after his final appearance. Obviously, such an ending isn’t the worst-case scenario: NBA fans of a certain age might remember that former Portland Trail Blazers great Jerome Kersey died at the age of 52 after a blood clot traveled from his calf to his lung.

(Grant Thomas/Yahoo Sports illustration)

Still, though: The prospect of Wembanyama — the brightest new star to grace the NBA sky in a generation, a wellspring of wonderment who at age 21 is just beginning to scratch the surface of his limitless potential — seeing his career preempted sent a shiver down an awful lot of spines on Thursday afternoon.

There was some measure of relief, then, that the second round of sourced…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/victor-wembanyamas-feel-good-season-is-sadly-over-211013930.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2025-02-20 21:10:00

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