With San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama out for at least the next couple of weeks with a calf injury, the Spurs have managed to hold down the fort as they await his return. They have done so masterfully, relying on star De'Aaron Fox to lead the offense and their depth to try and offset Wembanyama's absence.
He will hopefully be back soon, but, unfortunately, he has already begun to draw scrutiny over missed games. The Ringer's Bill Simmons [recently questioned on his podcast](https://youtu.be/DSpJ0Y1eey8?si=e_gggw5U2PYto8ri&t=399) whether Wembanyama was injury prone.
That question is likely to irritate Spurs fans, who obviously know that his season-ending injury last season was a result of deep vein thrombosis and not an on-the-court injury. This season, he was ruled out for 2-3 weeks with a calf strain, which appears to be more cautionary than anything else.
Granted, those two injuries in a relatively short period of time could draw concern from outsiders. Be that as it may, neither suggests that he is an injury-prone player. In fact, had it not been for Golden State Warriors player Brandon Podziemski landing on his leg, he would likely still be playing right now.
The Spurs' Victor Wembanyama is far from injury-prone
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Questioning Wembanyama's durability as a result seems a bit unfair to him. After all, this is really only his second on-court injury since entering the NBA, and it is a precautionary one at that.
That means that Simmons should pump the brakes on questioning his durability. Now, if he were to continue to miss time, then sure. But, for now, he certainly can't be considered to be in the same category as an Anthony Davis or Zion Williamson.
Given the estimated injury timeline, Wembanyama should only miss around 11 games thanks to a spaced-out schedule. That means that he would still be on pace to play between 66 and 70 games. It might not get him an Ironman record, but he would still be in the running for All-NBA and Defensive Player of the Year.
Considering that he was robbed of those honors last season, the basketball gods owe him that much. Better still, once he returns, the Spurs will be able to limit his minutes with Jeremy Sochan, Kelly Olynyk, and Luke Kornet all back from injury. That means he won't have to play big minutes, hopefully keeping him healthy for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs.
That would allow him to quiet concerns about his durability while hopefully leading the Spurs to their best season in years.