SACRAMENTO -- The San Antonio Spurs boarded the team flight Thursday bound for Sacramento and were pleasantly surprised to see teammate Victor Wembanyama on board.
Ruled out for the season in February due to deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder, Wembanyama accompanied the team on its trip to Sacramento to support new teammate De'Aaron Fox, who returned to Sacramento to face the Kings on Friday for the first time since they traded him to the Spurs as part of a transaction involving three teams, multiple players and draft picks.
"What [Wembanyama is] going through is definitely tough," Fox said at Friday's shootaround. "For us, we just want him to be healthy. We want him to be healthy enough to be able to get on a plane to be able to support us as a team. That's what he wants to do anyway."
Team doctors deemed it safe for Wembanyama to fly, a team official said, due to the specific type of blood-thinning medication he is taking to treat the blood clot in his right shoulder. The official said that Wembanyama isn't expected to make every trip, as some important steps in his treatment plan could take place during times the Spurs are on the road.
"There were no health risks or reasons for him not to come," San Antonio acting head coach Mitch Johnson said. "He wants to be with his teammates as much as possible. So, I think we'll see him as much as they'll allow him. I think it's as simple as that. He wants to be with this team. Being away [was] taking a toll on him. He's had a lot of time on his hands that I don't think he's ever had before. So, it's good to have him around."
Johnson said he wasn't sure if Wembanyama will travel with the Spurs to Minneapolis for Sunday's game but added that "there will be nothing that's more prioritized than his health and what he needs to do to get back, be healthy and ready to go."
Fiddling with his phone, Wembanyama sat on the bench while his teammates conducted their shootaround at the Golden 1 Center.
The team announced Wembanyama's condition after the 21-year-old returned to San Antonio on the heels of the NBA All-Star Game in San Francisco. Before returning home, Wembanyama had taken a brief trip to Wyoming to unwind, according to a source.
The Spurs remain optimistic Wembanyama will make a full recovery by the start of next season.
At this point, though, Wembanyama is under strict orders from the team to not even touch a basketball.