In February 2015, one of the most skilled big men of his generation felt unusual fatigue during All-Star weekend in New York. Tests revealed that Chris Bosh had blood clots in his lungs, a pulmonary embolism that required immediate hospitalization. He was 30 years old, a two-time NBA champion and at the peak of his powers. He played one more season. Then the clots came back, and the career was over.

Chris Bosh at a charity 3×3 basketball event in Ladera Ranch gave a piece of advice to Victor Wembanyama, who also suffered the same health scare.

“Take your medicine,” Bosh said to HoopsHype. “Make sure that he’s staying on top of his regimen to make sure that doesn’t happen again, because it only takes one more time. It happened one more time for me; it happened twice, and I couldn’t play anymore.”

On Feb. 20, 2025, the San Antonio Spurs announced that Wembanyama had been diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder after returning from the All-Star Game in San Francisco. Wemby had lacked energy leading into All-Star weekend and noted afterward that his arm “didn’t feel completely normal,” a signal his medical staff acted on immediately.

Coach Mitch Johnson said at the time that “there is no concern for Victor’s long-term health personally or his basketball activities.” The Spurs were proven right as Wembanyama cleared all hurdles before training camp opened last fall and went on to take San Antonio to the NBA Finals, the first Finals appearance for the franchise since 2014.

Chris Bosh was diagnosed with DVT after returning from All-Star weekend in New York, with several of the clots breaking free and lodging in his lungs. He was hospitalized, returned for the following season, and then developed a second DVT.

At that point, he required permanent anticoagulant medication. Blood thinners don’t match with playing contact sports professionally, and his career was over at 31. Bosh believed that extensive league-related travel, with its long stretches of sitting in airports and on planes, was the primary cause. The same travel schedule awaits Wembanyama every season.

“I had an episode in January,” he revealed. “I almost dropped dead, pretty much, and came back to life. I’m not joking. I had another pulmonary embolism. You just got to deal with it for the rest of your life. I thought I was past it. I am not.”

NBA insider Alex Kennedy, who disclosed that he has personally dealt with DVT in the shoulder, wrote at the time of Wembanyama’s diagnosis: “Victor Wembanyama is very fortunate that this was discovered before becoming a life-threatening pulmonary embolism.”

Victor Wembanyama is 22 years old and has already faced a medical challenge that most NBA players never encounter. He took the Spurs to the Finals in his third season, led all postseason players in blocks, and will enter 2026-27 as one of the three or four most physically dominant players in the world.