A lot of playoff basketball happened yesterday, but perhaps the biggest story was Victor Wembanyama’s triumphant return from concussion protocol. After banging his chin on the court and exiting Game 2, which the Spurs lost, he was cleared to travel with the team but missed Game 3 in Portland, which the Spurs won. He finally returned for Game 4 and helped lead the Spurs to one of the biggest comebacks in playoff history, as they became the first team to win by +15 points after being down by +15 at
halftime.
It all started as a feel-good story, with Wemby returning five days after the concussion, which is the beginning of the average return window of 5-7 days. Then, things got interesting immediately after the game. First, while being interviewed by ESPN’s Malika Andrews on the court, he mentioned the Spurs were great at handling his concussion but he was “very unhappy with the way the protocol was handled by other parties,” calling it “funny” before a befuddled Andrews moved on.
After that had raised some eyebrows, he was unsurprisingly asked to elaborate on what he meant at the start of his press conference in front of a gaggle of curious reporters. After a long, thoughtful pause, he had this to say:
“I won’t get into the details. I don’t want it to become a distraction. Ask me again after the season. All the doctors, especially on the Spurs, but the doctors all around, they were great, took great care of me. But the way the situation was handled was very disappointing. Not on the Spurs. But as I say, I won’t get into details.”
Then, when asked to elaborate more, the feed was suddenly muted to viewers. (And yes, this did in fact happen. I was watching it live on the Spurs’ YouTube page, and my mind immediate said, “Huh, they just muted him”.)
So is that in fact what happened, or was it just a coincidence that the NBA’s official feed lost sound when it did, then magically recovered for the next question? If it was it intentional, was it because they were afraid Wemby was about to say something he shouldn’t? That then begs the question, what did he say during those seconds when the mic was cut and no one outside the room could hear? Fortunately for us, YouTuber Chaz NBA found feed from a mic from inside the room … and Wemby didn’t say anything that he hadn’t already said: simply that he was fine with the Spurs but not the process (mic cut at the 1:54 mark, you can tell when the sound transitions from clear to distant and echoey).
To be clear, I am not a conspiracy theorist, and maybe the rabbit hole I’m about to dive down is an overreaction, but this still leaves many questions to unravel beyond whether this was intentional or not, so let’s break it down. First, there’s the question who exactly is Wemby upset at? The NBA has clear concussion protocol standards that he followed: he waited 24 hours to return to lite activity and completed the mandatory 48 hours with no contact allowed. He was symptom free by then, so he proceeded through all the cognitive and neurological testing required to be cleared to play. He (and the Spurs) reportedly felt he was ready to go for Game 3 but was not cleared to play, and it took up until an hour before Game 4 before he was finally cleared.
It would be understandable that he’s frustrated it took that long if he felt he could have played sooner, so again, does this answer who he’s upset at? He clearly stated it’s not the Spurs or their doctors, so the obvious answer would be the other party involved: the NBA. So the next question is why, and how much are they actually involved in this process?
This led me to consult with the NBA’s official concussion protocol rule for the zillionth time in the last week, and this jumped out at me in a new light. Under section 5.B.iv, which is the “Return to Participation” section, it says the following:
A team physician has discussed the return-to-participation process and decision with the Director of the NBA Concussion Program. Note that, to promote the consistency of player care, the final return-to-participation decision is to be made by the player’s team physician.
That last sentence is interesting. This “note” seems to put it more the team physician’s hands, even though it’s in conjunction with the “Director of the NBA Concussion Program” (whoever that is). So if the NBA ultimately does have final say, as has been widely reported, why that little note? It adds unnecessary confusion. Regardless, the most likely conclusion is the Spurs’ physician gave him the clear before Game 3 but this so-called Director did not. That would answer what “other party” Wemby is upset with.
Now the question becomes why was there disagreement, and was there more to this than simply two dissenting medical opinions? Was the NBA hoping to extend the series? (Probably not, but if so, it didn’t work.) Are they simply being overly cautious due to the lawsuits the National Football League is facing due to revelations of medical issues head injuries can cause later in life? Quite possibly, as they should, but this not-a-conspiracy-theorist has another thought.
What if the NBA simply didn’t like the optics of Wemby returning from a concussion, sustained in a high profile game on national television, in just three days? The moment went viral and had doctors and “medical experts” from all over giving their own takes and opinions on national television and social media, with most saying he should wait at least a week (despite no two cases being alike and them not having access to him or his medial files).
As previously noted, the average return time from a concussion in the NBA is 5-7 days, and Game 3 didn’t fit that timeline. Game 4 did, but just barely, and it sounds like even then the Spurs and Wemby had to work to convince the league he should be cleared. That brings us to our final question: why did the mic go out during Wemby’s press conference?
As shown above, he didn’t say anything that hadn’t already been said, but was there an agreement between him and the league that he had to stay quiet about the topic if he returned? Did he break a gag order, or did the league feel like he was about to go a step too far when they (allegedly) hit the mute button? We all know that Wemby is confident and brutally honest, sometimes to a fault, and he’s not afraid to speak his mind even if it brings about scrutiny (like his “ethical basketball” comments). Maybe that had the NBA worried. (If there is some sort of conspiracy going on here, maybe Pablo Torre can help us find out, just like when he exposed Kawhi Leonard and Uncle Dennis’ shenanigans.)
Who knows if Wemby will be asked about it again after the season, as he suggested. Maybe it will never come back up, or maybe he’ll endure a fine and speak out someday. There’s no telling at this point, but there sure are a lot of coincidences and unanswered questions here that will leave us wondering. The good thing is, assuming the Spurs take care of business and finish off the Trail Blazers, we don’t have to worry about any what-ifs coming from this incident.
Wemby is the potential face of the league who has a mind and a mouth and is not afraid to use them. That is undoubtedly good for him and the league, but also means there may be more times where they’ll have tell him to be quiet, and this could be the first in a long line of “Wemby vs. The Establishment” moments. Only time will tell.
