The Washington Wizards announced that forward Cam Whitmore will miss the remainder of the season as he recovers from an earlier diagnosis of deep-vein thrombosis. Whitmore has been out since early December after further evaluation discovered that his right shoulder soreness was DVT.
Whitmore joins a growing list of NBA players who have been diagnosed with DVT in the past few seasons. Damian Lillard missed time with DVT after a blood clot was found in his calf. Similarly, Victor Wembanyama’s season was cut short last February due to a blood clot found in his right shoulder from DVT. He missed the last 29 games of the season.
DVT can cause blood clots in the veins of the arms or legs, and can be tricky to detect as the symptoms aren’t too dissimilar from general muscle soreness. But detecting and treating them is crucial, as the blood clot can potentially travel to the lungs and cause pulmonary embolism, which can be life threatening.
Whitmore finishes the season having played in 21 games, while averaging 9.2 points and 2.8 rebounds on 45.6% from the field. Missing the remainder of the season is a tough blow for the third-year forward, but recent history has shown that players who have been diagnosed with DVT have managed to make a full recovery. Wembanyama has been putting up MVP-level numbers this season after missing a significant portion of last season with DVT. Ausar Thompson was sidelined for the last month of his rookie season, and remained out for the first month of last season, and has been putting up career numbers for a Pistons team that sits first in the East standings.
While it’s certainly not how Whitmore wanted his season to go, prioritizing his long-term health is important in this situation. For the Wizards, given they’re just 10-29 on the season, while they’ll miss Whitmore’s production, they’re likely already looking ahead to the draft lottery this summer as they plan for their future beyond just this season.