Victor Wembanyama concussion recovery, explained: What to know about rules for return in NBA protocol

Only once every step has been completed and Wembanyama has been cleared by both a team doctor and the director of the NBA Concussion Program can he return to game action.

Victor Wembanyama concussion video

Wembanyama hit the court head-first in the first half of Tuesday's loss to the Trail Blazers. He entered concussion protocol and was quickly ruled out for the remainder of the game.

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NBA concussion protocol

The NBA's concussion protocol prevents players from becoming full participants in practices or games for at least 48 hours after their diagnosis. Here is the league's wording:

"Prohibition from Full Participation. If a player is diagnosed with a concussion, he cannot return to full participation without restrictions: (i) for at least 48 hours after the time of injury; and (ii) until after he completes the required return-to-participation process."

Here is the NBA's language regarding clearance to return to play:

"A player diagnosed with a concussion should be regularly monitored for 24 hours for the evolution of symptoms, and accordingly the player may not begin the return-to-participation exertion process until 24 hours after the time of injury. Initiation of the return-to-participation exertion process is determined by a team physician.

i. The return to participation process involves several steps of increasing exertion – from a stationary bike, to jogging, to agility work, to non-contact team drills.

ii. Each exertion stage must be directly monitored by a member of the team’s medical staff. With each step, a focused neurological examination is performed, and a player must be symptom free to move to the next step. If a player is not symptom free after a step, he stops until he is symptom free and begins again at the previous step of the process (i.e., the last step he passed without any symptoms).

iii. It's important to note that there is no timeframe to complete the process. Each injury and player is different and recovery time can vary in each case.

A player who had a concussion may not return to full participation without restrictions until:

i. He is without concussion-related symptoms at rest;

ii. He has been evaluated by a team physician (or another physician) with training and experience in the management of sports-related concussion;

iii. He has successfully completed the NBA return-to-participation exertion process (including clearance by a team physician (or another physician) to return to full participation without restrictions); and

iv. The Director of the NBA Concussion Program has confirmed that such clearance by a team physician (or another physician) is consistent with this Policy. If the Director agrees with the team physician’s determination, then the player may return to full participation without restrictions."

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When can Victor Wembanyama return?

There are more than 48 hours between Wembanyama's injury and Game 3 on Friday, so the Spurs star could technically not miss any more time. Don't count on it, though.

While 48 hours is the minimum in the concussion protocol, it typically takes longer for a player to become symptom-free, clear every step of the process while symptom-free and be cleared by a team doctor and league official. That puts Wembanyama's status for Game 3 in doubt, and he might even need to become symptom-free quickly to be available for Sunday's Game 4.

The gap between Game 2 and Game 3 is the only one in the series that gives the Spurs more than one off day between games, so the schedule won't work in Wembanyama's favor if he has a hard time becoming symptom-free.

Spurs vs. Trail Blazers schedule

Here is the remaining schedule for the series between the Spurs and Trail Blazers, with at least a Game 5 now necessary.