Washington Wizards center Alex Sarr has been ruled out for the remainder of the EuroBasket tournament, where he had been representing France, due to a right calf injury, according to an official statement from the French national team.
The translated announcement noted that the recovery timeline for Sarr’s injury prevents him from continuing in the tournament.
Sarr sustained the injury during France’s win over Slovenia on Saturday, which caused him to miss Sunday’s game against Israel. He will also be sidelined for Tuesday’s matchup with Poland and Thursday’s game against Iceland, and any potential appearances in the round of 16, should France advance.
With a current 2-1 record, France is in a solid position to reach the knockout stage by winning at least one of its final two group-stage games. However, the team is now even more short-handed in the frontcourt, already missing Rudy Gobert, Victor Wembanyama, and Mathias Lessort. This places extra responsibility on Guerschon Yabusele and Zaccharie Risacher to lead the front line.
It’s still uncertain whether Sarr’s injury will impact his participation in NBA training camp, but the estimated recovery appears to be a matter of weeks rather than days. With training camp set to begin in about four weeks and the regular season more than seven weeks away, there’s hope Sarr will be fully recovered in time.
The 20-year-old big man, who was last year’s No. 2 overall pick, made the NBA All-Rookie First Team after averaging 13.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.5 blocks in 27.1 minutes per game. Heading into his second season, Sarr will look to improve his shooting efficiency, having shot just 39.4% from the field and 67.9% from the free-throw line as a rookie.
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