On Thursday, countless NBA fans and sports media members took to social media to share kind messages in support of San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama. Wembanyama is set to miss the remainder of the 2024-25 NBA season after being diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis, a form of a blood clot, in his right shoulder.
In response to Shams Charania’s report on Wembanyama’s diagnosis, well-known fantasy sports doctor Jesse Morse offered his input on what potentially may have caused the blood clot. Morse immediately jumping to the COVID-19 vaccine as a potential factor.
“That’s a blood clot… How much you want to bet he received the COVID vaccine?” wrote Morse in a post on X.
In a series of follow-up posts, Morse defended his stance by comparing the number of thrombosis cases from those who have gotten the COVID-19 vaccine in comparison to other vaccines.
While Morse obviously has the medical background to speak on medical topics far more than the average person, there are obvious factors that he leaves out by solely citing the COVID-19 vaccine as the reason for Wembanyama’s blood clot.
For example, Wembanyama could have a history of blood clots in his family, which would put him at increased risk of developing blood clots of his own despite obviously being in better shape than the average person as a professional athlete. Not to mention the fact that taller people are at an increased risk for venous thromboembolism to begin with.
To solely blame the COVID-19 vaccine without key background information about Wembanyama’s medical history can certainly be seen as a bit irresponsible. Naturally, there were plenty who made it a point to call out Morse for his medical diagnosis.
Kent Weyrauch of Fantasy Pros replied with a link to an article from the National Library of Medicine that states that developing the COVID-19 virus puts people at further risk of developing blood clots than getting the COVID-19 vaccine, thus disproving Morse’s point.
“I hate this stupid ass talking point. Blood clots are a side effect of COVID. Vaccine deniers have latched onto them because they know blood clot rates are up because of repeated COVID infections,” wrote former Toronto Raptors beat writer Anthony Doyle.
Regardless of whatever the cause of Wembanyama’s blood clot truly is, hopefully, it is not a long-term issue that plagues him past this current season. Famously, former Miami Heat star Chris Bosh was forced to retire at just the age of 31 after developing a blood clot in one of his lungs in 2015.