"Long hoped for," Victor Wembanyama finally withdraws from the Euro basketball championship with the Blues

A silver medalist with Les Bleus at the last Paris 2024 Olympic Games and a member of the new golden generation of French sport, 21-year-old French basketball player Victor Wembanyama is experiencing the first setback in his young career.

Barring an unlikely turnaround, the 2.24m French center of the San Antonio Spurs will be out of the next European Championship , which will be held from August 27 to September 14 in Cyprus, Finland, Poland and Latvia.

Victim of "deep vein thrombosis in the right shoulder" – a blood clot preventing blood circulation – in mid-February, the new figurehead of the NBA will therefore have to wait until the end of October and the resumption of the North American basketball league season before playing an official match.

Several sources have explained to Libération that Spurs, although historically in favor of letting their players leave for the national team, do not want to take "any risks" - either sporting or financial - with their French superstar.

His injury, which he described last April as "a small setback" in his career, and his withdrawal leave the Blues without their leader, at the dawn of a new cycle with the new coach, Frédéric Fauthoux.

The French Basketball Federation (FFBB) and the technical staff have "long hoped" that Victor Wembanyama would finally hold his place, his entourage explains. The announcement of the pre-selection, initially scheduled for Wednesday, June 25, was postponed last weekend to Friday, June 27. The reason? "To allow the technical staff to have medical confirmations on the availability of certain players," the federal body told Libération , refusing to make any further comment.

Because France, in search of a second European crown since its victory in 2013, will also be without several of its key players. Recently, Le Parisien and L'Equipe respectively announced that Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert and Olympiakos guard Evan Fournier are also likely to miss out.

Back in the Paris region after a ten-day spiritual retreat at a Shaolin temple in China , Victor Wembanyama is on schedule to be at full capacity by early October, for the Spurs' resumption of training. In the meantime, the French prodigy is expected to continue traveling back and forth between France and the United States to continue his rehabilitation.

Voted Rookie of the Year last season and tipped to be named Best Defensive Player, "Wemby" was off to a very high start in his first 46 games of the season before his injury. In Texas, San Antonio fans hope his return to the game will finally allow their team to return to the NBA playoffs after a six-year drought. The weight of expectation is already heavy on Wemby's young shoulders.