Wizards guard Cam Whitmore diagnosed with blood clot in shoulder, out indefinitely

By Jordy Fee-Platt, David Aldridge and Josh Robbins

Washington Wizards wing Cam Whitmore will be sidelined indefinitely after receiving a deep-vein thrombosis diagnosis in his right shoulder, the team announced. The team is optimistic Whitmore will make a full recovery, team sources told The Athletic.

“G/F Cam Whitmore has been diagnosed with upper-extremity deep vein thrombosis,” the Wizards announced. “Whitmore was evaluated after missing the previous two games with right shoulder soreness. Whitmore is expected to be sidelined indefinitely. His progress and recovery will be monitored, and his status will be updated as appropriate.”

Whitmore, 21, has missed the last two games with shoulder soreness. Recent tests revealed the blood clot in his shoulder.

Deep-vein thrombosis, DVT for short, is a blood clot that can occur in the veins of the arms or legs. Treatment differs based on its location in the body. At first, symptoms include soreness and swelling, which are not uncommon for NBA players. This makes it harder to diagnose.

A number of NBA players have suffered blood clots in the past year. Then-Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard was diagnosed with DVT in March, after doctors found a blood clot in his calf. Last February, Spurs star Victor Wembanyama was sidelined for the rest of the 2024-25 season after suffering from DVT in his right shoulder.

“(The symptoms are) not something that athletes would necessarily think is that unusual,” Dr. Cheng-Han Chen, a cardiologist and medical director of the Structural Heart Program at Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills, Calif, told The Athletic in April. “It could just be that in the past, athletes were getting DVT but shrugged it off.”

If not caught early, DVT can travel to the lungs and cause a life-threatening pulmonary embolism. Wembenyama is one of a handful of NBA players who have suffered from DVT and returned to the court.

Whitmore has averaged 9.2 points and 2.8 rebounds per game this season in 21 games for Washington. He spent the first two seasons of his career with the Houston Rockets.