Victor Wembanyama suffered a hyperextended left knee in the San Antonio Spurs‘ win over the New York Knicks on Wednesday night, reports ESPN’s Shams Charania. Charania adds that initial tests showed no major injury had been suffered.
“I’m feeling good, just sore. I’m confident,” Wembanyama said, per Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News. “I was close to coming back into the game. They had to hold me back…It was just a hyperextension. It should be a minimal.”
The Spurs star bumped knees with the Knicks’ Karl-Anthony Towns in the fourth quarter while fighting for a rebound and landed awkwardly, staying on the ground for several moments before the Spurs gave an intentional foul to stop play.
Wembanyama immediately went to the locker room. According to Stefan Bondy of the New York Post, Wembanyama told fans “I’ll be back” when he left, but when he returned, he was wearing slippers, per James L. Edwards III of The Athletic.
The Spurs were able to come back and end the game with a 134-132 victory despite not having their superstar center, and will now wait for a more specific diagnosis.
This was just the third start for the Frenchman since mid-November, as he missed 12 games due to a calf strain, and then came off the bench for the next seven games, including against the Knicks in the NBA Cup championship, in order to work his way back into competitive shape.