I have been so busy the last couple of weeks that (in an extremely rare occurrence), I wasn’t able to watch the Spurs-Kings game live on Tuesday and may be at risk of missing tonight’s game. Currently, if I’m not at work, you can find me helping my sister prepare for the grand opening of her new business this weekend, because family comes first. Still, that doesn’t mean I haven’t been on social media or the internet, and I’ve gotten more and more annoyed with what I’ve been seeing. As a result, I couldn’t
hold it in anymore and had to use a rare bit of spare time share my thoughts on some hot takes I’ve been seeing.
Victor Wembanyama is not injury prone
The first two-plus seasons of what will hopefully be a historic career that launches Wemby to the pinnacle of NBA greatness has not gone entirely as hoped. He’s only played in about 72.5% of Spurs games (129 of 178), which may be more than some people think but is still under the equivalent of the 65-game threshold for an 82-game season, which is about 80%.
Now, he is set to miss at least two weeks with two of the most dreaded words in sports right now: calf strain. The injury itself is not serious — Wemby is reportedly not in any discomfort — but evidence is piling up suggesting if not properly healed, calf strains can lead to much more devastating injuries, such as a ruptured Achilles. As a result, an injury that used to maybe cost a player a game or two based on comfort level is now being treated with a abundance of caution.
This news has led to severe overreaction from both fans and the media, saying that Wemby is injury prone which may hold him back from reaching his true potential. (Heck, Vegas has already decided he won’t reach the 65-game threshold and shifted the Defensive Player of the Year odds in favor of Chet Holmgren, who missed his entire rookie season, played all 82 games in his “second” rookie season, and then only played in 32 games last season. Is that not injury prone?) To me, it’s way too early to make that assumption, especially when you consider the context.
Starting with the calf strain, beyond the fact that Wemby is far from the only star dealing with this injury, and it’s looking more and more like the league has a pace/scheduling problem, there is compelling evidence that Wemby’s body isn’t betraying him. A video is going around from the Spurs loss to the Warriors last Friday showing a prone Brandon Podziemski swinging his leg into Wemby’s, forcing him to fall awkwardly.
Of course, no one has said this is what caused his calf strain, and I’m not here to call Podz a dirty player (although it’s hard to come up with any legitimate reason for that move), but if this is the cause, then that defangs the argument that this injury proves Wemby is injury prone.
Going even further back, he played in 71 games rookie season, so he met the 65-game threshold, and most of the missed games were due to a stubborn ankle sprain that he tried playing through, only for it to be exacerbated by landing on a Mavs ball boy who was standing under the basket during shootaround. That was when the Spurs decided to shut him down and let it heal, but what athlete hasn’t delt with a stubborn ankle at some point in their career? I know of one who still became a legend: Manu Ginobili, who was limited early in his rookie year by an offseason ankle sprain, and missed most of two separate seasons recovering from ankle surgery (2008-09 left, 2015-16 right).
Finally, looking at Wemby’s second season, he played in 41 of the first 46 games and was on track to win Defensive Player of the year before he was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis (a blood clot) in his shoulder during the All-Star break. That is not an injury, but a freak occurrence that can and has happened to several players in recent years, including Brandon Ingram, Damian Lillard and Ausar Thompson. It was not determined to be the result of a blood disorder (which unfortunately was the case for Chris Bosh, ending his career prematurely), so there is nothing pointing to it being a recurring problem.
Again, there just isn’t any evidence so far to support the idea that Wemby is injury prone, but rather just unlucky so far. This is only his second true “injury” of his career, it’s a common one across the NBA landscape, and at this point, there is no evidence it is bad enough that he won’t reach 65 games. If injuries keep occurring for Wemby, then we can start worrying, but that time is not now.
De’Aaron Fox’s extension was not a regret
There have been terrible takes about Fox from all ends of the spectrum — from “Spurs fans don’t appreciate him” coming from Kings fans (I had to unfollow FoxMuse on X because because of his continued slamming of other Spurs and coaches overprotection of Fox), to Spurs fans admittedly overreacting to his mistakes as he eases his way back into a rhythm following an offseason hamstring injury. (I’ll admit I didn’t hold back from criticizing his shot selection at the end of that same Warriors game last week, but no player should be immune to criticism.)
That being said, the worst Fox take of the week had to come from Bleacher Report (no surprises there), which in its listify-everything format wrote about every team’s biggest offseason regret. I guess considering the Spurs had a pretty good offseason, the pickings were slim, but they went with giving Fox a maximum extension. Here’s what they had to say about it.
When the Spurs made a deadline deal for Fox last season, it felt like a good trial run to gauge the impact of having a second star alongside Victor Wembanyama.
With Fox being both a one-time All-Star and extension-eligible this summer, the trade price was reasonable enough that San Antonio didn’t have to cash in its best assets.
The Spurs barely saw the two together, since Wembanyama was sidelined shortly thereafter by deep vein thrombosis. San Antonio also beefed-up an already strong point guard group by adding No. 2 pick Dylan Harper to go along with Fox and reigning Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle.
And yet, the Spurs still felt compelled to give Fox a four-year, $229 million max extension in August. That’s an awful lot of money for a soon-to-be 28-year-old with one All-Star selection on his resume and an inconsistent jumper that could be more problematic once the aging process starts cutting into his physical gifts.
It also just felt unnecessary when, again, San Antonio already had younger, cheaper alternatives in Harper and Castle in case the Fox-Wembanyama combo was anything other than ideal.
This is definitely reach. First of all, if the early returns this season are any indication, Castle is not a point guard, at least not yet. He was extremely turnover prone when he was running the offense to the start the season but has exploded as a secondary playmaker since Fox returned. I like Castle more as a shooting guard than point guard.
Harper may end up being another story, but the sample size is way too small, and even if he does end up better than Fox, his rookie contract extension won’t kick in until the final year of Fox’s contract. If they need to make a move then, they can.
In the meantime, the Spurs showed they are done messing around and are ready to contend instead of “wasting any more of Wemby’s career” as so many have complained about. Contention is why they made this move, plus it’s not like stars are flocking to San Antonio via trade demand or free agency. If they thought they didn’t need Fox after drafting Harper, they wouldn’t have extended him, and nothing has happened between then and now to suggest they are regretting it.
Now, I’m afraid the team will regret not extending Jeremy Sochan, but that’s a topic for another day.
