The Los Angeles Lakers beat the San Antonio Spurs rather handily on Monday night, though the latter was without their franchise centerpiece Victor Wembanyama.
The Spurs shut down Wembanyama for the remainder of the 2024-25 season due to a blood clot located in his shoulder. While Wembanyama is expected to make a full recovery, it’s still disappointing that his sophomore campaign was cut short. He is dealing with something similar to what Brandon Ingram had in his final season with the Lakers.
Wembanyama is widely regarded as the next face of the NBA, so news of his injury shook the league and the fans. Even people like Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick were sad to see Wembanyama sidelined for the rest of the year.
Prior to the win against the Spurs, Redick wished Wembanyama well and empathized with his situation.
“I wish him well and hopefully he’s back on the court very soon and doesn’t have a long-term issue,” Redick said. “He’s just a great human and great player and just a great representative of our league. Got to know him a little bit and I feel for him.”
Redick also had high praise Wembanyama’s character and called him a unique player and individual.
“I had the fortune of having him on my podcast before he got drafted. And that’s not a plug for the podcast, it’s just a fact, an event that happened. I was really struck by his maturity and thoughtfulness and I think there are a lot of people in any industry that are talented and have success or are going to have success and they’re looking for what can I get, versus what can I give. And he’s a ‘what can I give’ person. And that’s not just because he gave my kids a signed jersey. I’m close with a lot of people in the Spurs front office because I worked with them in Orlando and I hear all the stories. He’s one-of-one.”
Redick has plenty of reasons to support Wembanyama as the French native gifted the Lakers head coach’s sons his jersey after their collection was lost in the L.A. wildfires. Aside from his generosity, though, Wembanyama is a two-way force that should have the Spurs in title contention sooner than later.
With his size, length, skill and mentality, Wembanyama has the potential to be an all-time great and it’ll be exciting to see him back on the court next season.
Victor Wembanyama calls Luka Doncic trade to Lakers craziest thing he’s seen
Victor Wembanyama hasn’t been in the NBA for very long, but it’s hard to imagine him seeing anything like the Luka Doncic trade again. In fact, Wembanyama called the Doncic trade the craziest thing he’s seen.
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