French professional basketball player Victor Wembanyama was on Wednesday undergoing medical tests after suffering a concussion during the second game of the San Antonio Spurs' first round NBA play-off tie against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Wembanyama, who scored 35 points for the Spurs in the 111-98 win in the opening game on Sunday, fell and hit his face on the floor early in the second quarter on Tuesday night.
He left the court at the AT&T Center in San Antonio and did not return to the match which Portland won 106-103.
The best-of-seven series stands at one apiece ahead of the third game in Portland on Friday night.
"I just know he has a concussion and he's in the protocol and we'll obviously take the proper and appropriate steps," San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson said after the game.
"You know, it's tough. That protocol is the protocol, so we'll just follow it, as everyone else does, and plan accordingly."
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Under NBA guidelines, a player must remain inactive for a minimum of 24 hours and cannot resume full participation in a game for at least 48 hours.
The Spurs have enjoyed success without their star defender this season. They have won 12 of the 18 games played without him.
However, to lose Wembanyama as they contest the play-offs for the first time since the 2018/19 season, would be a huge blow.
On Monday, Wembanyama was named defender of the NBA 2026 season. The 22-year-old became the first player to claim the accolade unanimously in its 43-year history.
On the same day, he was placed on the shortlist for the NBA most valuable player (MVP) award.
He is the first Frenchman to compete for one of the most prestigious honours in the sport. He will vie with the 2025 winner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic, who claimed it in 2021, 2022 and 2024.
Other winners in the 70-year history of the prize include Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Larry Bird. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar holds the record with six crowns between 1971 and 1980.
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The defender of the year award and the nomination for MVP of the season vindicate the hype around Wembanyama's move in 2023 to the Texas-based Spurs from the French division one outfit Metropolitans 92.
He was described as a generational talent and one of the sport's most dazzling prospects since LeBron James in 2003.
Wembanyama, at two metres 21 centimetres, boasts the height of a centre (defender) as well as the shooting and silky ball-handling skills of a guard (attacker).
Stake in boyhood club
In March, Wembanyama confirmed he had bought a minority stake in his boyhood club Nanterre 92.
He played for the outfit between the ages of 10 and 17 before leaving in June 2021 to join French top-flight side ASVEL in Lyon in south-eastern France.
“Nanterre shaped me as a player and as a man,” Wembanyama said. “I want to help make it a benchmark club that is ambitious, inclusive and true to its values in the long term.”
