Victor Wembanyama has not been cleared yet for Game 3 in Portland, even though San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson said Thursday that the 7-foot-4 star looks good and will travel with the team. The 22-year-old left Game 2 of the Western Conference first round on Tuesday night after his chin slammed into the hardwood and did not return.
Friday night’s Game 3 is set for 10:30 p.m. ET, about 74 hours after the injury, which leaves Wembanyama enough time to satisfy the NBA’s two-day minimum but still no automatic path back into the lineup. He must pass a series of tests, including the league’s required cognitive checks, before he can play.
The timing matters because the Spurs and Portland Trail Blazers are tied 1-1, and Game 3 could swing the series. San Antonio also won the season series against Portland without Wembanyama in uniform in any of the three games, a reminder that the Spurs have shown they can beat the Blazers even when their best player is out.
Chris Nowinski, who has long warned about head injuries in sports, called the play an ugly concussion. He said Wembanyama was slow to get up and lost his balance when he first moved, signs that made the injury look serious from the start. Nowinski also said it was hard to tell whether the 22-year-old was unconscious, and that his head bounced off the court aggressively.
That is where the cleanest answer to the question is wemby playing game 3 still gets complicated. The calendar works in his favor, but the protocol does not stop at the clock. The NBA requires a player to wait at least 48 hours after the time of injury before returning to full participation, and to complete and pass cognitive tests before getting the final green light.
There have been countless times when players have tried to force their way back onto the floor against better judgment or medical advice, and the pressure only grows in a playoff series that is tied. Wembanyama is San Antonio’s Defensive Player of the Year, and his availability Friday night may come down to whether the league’s five-step concussion process says he is truly ready, not just whether he feels ready to go.
Nowinski said NBA players often return to full participation faster than they do in the NFL, in part because most NFL games are a week apart. He added that league protocols are designed to fit the game schedule rather than necessarily what people think about in terms of managing long-term risks, which is why Wembanyama’s status will remain the story until the team has an answer.
