Nov 20, 2025; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) with teammates forwards Julian Champagnie (30) and Kelly Olynyk (8) during a time out in the first half against the Atlanta Hawks at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Shams Charania: San Antonio Spurs' Victor Wembanyama is likely to return for Saturday's NBA Cup semifinals against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Las Vegas, sources tell ESPN. Final clearance will come after today's practice for Wembanyama, who's been sidelined since Nov. 14 due to a calf strain.

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Mark Medina: Spurs coach Mitch Johnson on if Victor Wembanyama can return for NBA Cup semifinal vs OKC on Sat: "Very much so. He had a very good day today. He had a very intense day this morning. We'll have to see how he responds and reacts tomorrow." x.com | Dec. 11, 2025

Ferkel sees a lot of caution across the sport. “There is a concern that calf injuries can lead to Achilles injuries, and that this is all due to incomplete rehab in the calf and favoring one leg over the other,” Ferkel said. “Teams are being much more conservative in returning players back from calf injuries.” Yahoo! Sports | Dec. 11, 2025

Thompson’s trust in Ferkel is shared by the league office. Ferkel serves as a medical consultant at the annual NBA Combine regarding lower leg issues. He is also a key member of a medical committee that the NBA assembled this summer, staffed by leading surgeons, PhDs and researchers who convene to study the recent uptick in lower leg injuries. They meet periodically over Zoom to discuss, among other topics, the hottest medical issue in the league right now: searching for answers about the rise of calf strains and its possible relationship to the spike in Achilles tears. Yahoo! Sports | Dec. 11, 2025

Dr. Richard Ferkel is a top orthopedic surgeon at the Southern Orthopedic Institute and an assistant clinical professor of orthopedic surgery at UCLA. He has operated on over a dozen Achilles tears of NBA players, including those of Klay Thompson, DeMarcus Cousins and Rodney Hood. In February, Thompson presented Ferkel with a 2022 NBA championship ring as a thank you for stitching his Achilles back together and allowing him to somehow be, in Thompson’s own words, the second-best scorer on a championship team. Yahoo! Sports | Dec. 11, 2025

Ja Morant. Victor Wembanyama. Giannis Antetokounmpo. All suffered calf strains in the opening weeks of the season. All sidelined for multiple weeks. They are the biggest names, but there are more. A lot more. In the first 20 games of the 2025-26 season, we’ve seen a substantial increase in calf injuries (excluding contusions caused by blunt force), according to leading injury expert Jeff Stotts of InStreetClothes.com. This time last season, there were 18 calf injuries at the 20-game mark. This season, it’s up to 25 incidents, representing an increase of nearly 40%. More significant, however, is the elongated recovery timeline of these injuries. Per Stotts’ data, the number of games lost due to calf injuries, through 20 games played, skyrocketed from 36 to 108. A tripling of last season’s total. Yahoo! Sports | Dec. 11, 2025

But as San Antonio Spurs coach Mitch Johnson noted, Wembanyama's post opportunities typically come higher up the floor near the elbow, giving him more space to operate and work off the teammates orbiting him on the perimeter. "Us walking up the basketball and throwing it to him on the low block and everybody staring at him to make everything happen probably isn't something that we're [going to do]," Johnson said. "I think sometimes we blur the traditional sense of what we view as a post-up." Most teams follow that philosophy in 2025: According to tracking data, a much higher percentage of post-ups start on the move now, compared to a decade ago, while the number that start with a staid, traditional entry pass has plummeted. ESPN | Dec. 9, 2025

Paul Garcia: Wemby is OUT Wednesday vs Lakers per Spurs. McLaughlin is questionable x.com | Dec. 9, 2025

Wembanyama, who has been out since Nov. 15 with a strained left calf, is not expected to play in Monday's game against the Pelicans. He is likely considered iffy for the team's NBA Cup quarterfinal matchup at the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday. San Antonio Express-News | Dec. 7, 2025

This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Victor Wembanyama likely to return on Saturday against Thunder

Reporting by HoopsHype / Hoops Hype

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