{"id":95775,"date":"2025-06-13T10:36:20","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T10:36:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/95775\/"},"modified":"2025-06-13T10:36:20","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T10:36:20","slug":"nba-superstar-on-55million-contract-unrecognizable-with-new-look-while-entering-chinese-monastery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/95775\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA superstar on $55million contract unrecognizable with new look while entering Chinese monastery"},"content":{"rendered":"

VICTOR WEMBANYAMA looks totally different – after choosing\u00a0 a retreat almost as surprising as the medical condition that\u00a0ended his season.<\/p>\n

The NBA<\/a> hero is battling back from a rare diagnosis of\u00a0deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder four months ago.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

The 7ft 3ins hot prospect stood out as he went jogging at the retreat\"Victor<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

Victor Wembanyama met the press earlier this month, having been ruled out for the rest of the season with a rare diagnosisCredit: AP<\/p>\n

And the Frenchman, who is on a $55million deal with San Antonio Spurs<\/a>, has opted for a 10-day stay at a Chinese monastery.<\/p>\n

Wembanyama<\/a>, 21, is content to remain isolated for large spells as he focuses on his recuperation and all-round well-being.<\/p>\n

The 7ft 3ins center has scarcely been seen in public since his fitness scare.<\/p>\n

And when he was spotted at a\u00a0famous Buddhist monastery in central China this week,\u00a0he managed to both stand out and look unrecognisable.<\/p>\n

Wembanyama’s head was shaved and he wore grey robes, while he also took part in prayers at the\u00a0Shaolin Temple in Henan province.<\/p>\n

But he was in more familiar training gear when he jogged in a forest.<\/p>\n

Quite a change from footage that emerged two months ago – of Wembanyama playing SOCCER in Costa Rica,<\/a> when he soared way above everyone else to win spectacular headers.<\/p>\n

It all shows he’s well on the way to full health – after suffering an issue that can be deadly serious.<\/p>\n

Luckily, Spurs<\/a> believe his thrombosis was an “isolated” case.<\/p>\n

And they expect to have him back for the 2025-26 NBA season, starting in October.<\/p>\n

\"Victor<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

Wembanyama was a big presence playing soccer in Costa RicaCredit: X\/eurofootcom<\/p>\n

A vein thrombosis is caused when blood begins to clot in deeper veins.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It can cause major problems if the clogs loosen and moves through the bloodstream into the lungs.<\/p>\n

Incredible footage shows 7ft 3in NBA star Victor Wembanyama playing football as Peter Crouch posts one-word verdict<\/p>\n

If it gets\u00a0to the heart and\u00a0pulmonary arteries, blood flow can be blocked.<\/p>\n

And without proper treatment, that situation could even become life-threatening.<\/p>\n

Sufferers\u00a0are usually given\u00a0blood-thinning medication and banned from contact sport until they recover.<\/p>\n

And aside from the joy of seeing\u00a0Wembanyama recovery, his comeback will also be eagerly awaited because of his astonishing\u00a0potential.<\/p>\n

His thrombosis emerged shortly after his\u00a0first All-Star Game<\/a>\u00a0game.<\/p>\n

And he finished 2023-24 as NBA Rookie of\u00a0the year.<\/p>\n

Wembanyama led the league stats for blocked shots and made the\u00a0All-Defensive First Team selection.<\/p>\n

\"Victor<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

He is one of the NBA’s hottest prospectsCredit: Getty<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"VICTOR WEMBANYAMA looks totally different – after choosing\u00a0 a retreat almost as surprising as the medical condition that\u00a0ended…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95776,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3797],"tags":[7,1312,20744,6,969,474,4075,4074,4503,534],"class_list":{"0":"post-95775","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio-spurs","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-china","10":"tag-health-warnings","11":"tag-nba","12":"tag-san-antonio","13":"tag-san-antonio-spurs","14":"tag-sanantonio","15":"tag-sanantoniospurs","16":"tag-section-sportbasketball","17":"tag-spurs"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114675619196330860","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}