Victor Wembanyama is back. Kyrie Irving and Jayson Tatum might be coming back. Tyrese Haliburton and Damian Lillard don’t plan to play again until next season.
Injuries are already big NBA news this season, even before most camps even open.
Wembanyama, San Antonio’s All-Star center, is back and raring to go after being cleared this summer following a scare caused by deep vein thrombosis in one of his shoulders — which, at first, was considered a potentially career-threatening issue. Irving’s 2024-25 season ended with a torn ACL and he is recovering, albeit without a firm return-to-play timeline, while Tatum’s recovery from a torn Achilles has Boston fans dreaming of a return this season.
“It’s life-changing, spending so much time in hospitals and around doctors and hearing more bad news than I wish I heard,” Wembanyama said. “It is traumatic, but in the long run, I think it’s going to be very beneficial because even though I don’t wish it on nobody, it makes you understand lessons that nothing else could have made you understand.”
Wembanyama should be ready to go on opening night for the Spurs. Irving and Tatum will have to wait a while longer for their clearances — but seem to both be on the right path. And many of the top names who have been dealing with injury issues said they’re relying on one another at times to help get through the long road back to playing.
“We saw a few star players get hurt this year that meant a lot to their team,” Irving said. “We’re just always praying for each other, always picking up each other, always showing what our progress is. And I think all of us are trying to legitimately prove that we’re alien-like, and we can heal like Wolverine.”
He was referencing a Marvel character, one with exceptional healing powers. Tatum might be the frontrunner in the Wolverine standings.
Achilles tears typically can mean an athlete misses a full year or so; it’s not an exact science, but that’s a good guess more often than not. Haliburton isn’t playing this season after getting hurt in Game 7 of the NBA Finals last June, and Lillard — back with Portland now — doesn’t expect to play after tearing his Achilles while playing with Milwaukee in last season’s playoffs.
“I don’t plan on it,” Lillard said. “I just want to be as healthy as I can possibly be and be 100% confident in it and be able to do all of the movements and everything that it takes to be on the NBA court. … At that point, whenever that point is, obviously I’ll have a decision to make.”
Tatum seems to be leaning the other way. Only five months removed from his Achilles tear in last season’s playoffs, he’s back on the floor already and going through some workouts. He won’t be in a game anytime soon, but he certainly sounds like he’s not ruling out the season.
“I think for me there’s been bright spots and getting back on the court and being able to participate in a basketball workout, it was definitely one of the more-bright spots of this journey,” Tatum said. “It just felt really good to be on the court and dribbling a basketball, going through a workout, just feeling like a basketball player again.”
Haliburton sees himself playing the role of unofficial assistant coach this season. The Indiana guard — who acknowledged that the process, at times, has been mentally trying — is recovering well but knew right away that getting hurt in late June wasn’t going to lead to playing basketball again in a regular season that stretches from October to April.
“I think whenever you don’t get to play, you get a new perspective on things,” Haliburton said. “I think there’s always time to learn and grow. And I think, for me, this year, not being able to play, I feel like I’m going to be able to see the game in a different way.”
There is a slew of not-season-threatening issues around the league as well. Miami’s Tyler Herro expects to miss at least the first month of the regular season after surgery to fix an issue affecting an ankle and foot. The Los Angeles Clippers will keep watchful eyes on Bogdan Bogdanovic (hamstring tear at EuroBasket) and Bradley Beal (right knee surgery in May), both of whom will participate in training camp. Jalen Williams of the NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder is recovering from offseason wrist surgery.
“I got my work in, for sure,” Williams said. “Still got some ways to go with it. It forced me to be really creative, me and my trainers who I had in my camp. It’s hard to do the same drills over and over again especially when you’re in a cast. So, we got pretty creative as the summer progressed.”
As camps open, hope is everywhere. And dealing with an injury that ends one season only makes players appreciate the game more going forward, said Wembanyama, who channeled his frustrations into working out harder than ever this summer.
“What I’ve done this summer, it’s world-class,” Wembanyama said. “Even in the field of professional sports, I don’t think many people have trained the way we’ve trained the summer.”
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AP Sports Writer Beth Harris in Inglewood, California, contributed to this report.
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