Mathias Lessort goes under the knife again

Good news for Panathinaikos Athens and perhaps also the French national team. Mathias Lessort, a 30-year-old French center, successfully underwent elbow surgery to correct a persistent issue that had been bothering him since the end of the 2025-2026 season. The procedure took place on July 11, according to Greek media SDNA, and the recovery is going as planned.

The player from Martinique had been cleared to play during the playoff finals in Greece despite this physical discomfort. It was therefore after the competitions ended that he chose to definitively resolve the problem, having missed significant court time in the preceding months (25 games total in 2025-2026).

🏥🟢 Panathinaikos’ta, Mathias Lessort bu ay başında sağ dirseğinden ameliyat oldu.

➡️ Lessort’un iyileşmesi için 2 haftalık süreye ihtiyaç duyduğu belirtildi.
➡️ Fransız pivot 25 Ağustos’ta başlayacak hazırlık kampına kadar hazır olacak. (Gazzetta) pic.twitter.com/5PWuTk38QM

— Hızlı Hücum (@hizlihucum) July 21, 2026

A short absence, no concerns for 2026-2027

Doctors estimate the total recovery time at around two weeks for this type of minor procedure. Lessort is now in the very final stages of rehabilitation and should rejoin his teammates on the court within the next few days, fully fit. This sets him up to prepare as well as possible for his EuroLeague season and the Greek championship in 2026-2027, with the return of Zeljko Obradovic as head coach and the arrival of two fellow French players in the frontcourt, power forward Guerschon Yabusele and center Moustapha Fall.

This quick return is excellent news for a franchise that counts on its French center as one of its key pieces, after having had to do without him for nearly a year and a half. Drafted 50th overall in 2017 by the Philadelphia 76ers, Lessort built his reputation in Europe through key stints at AS Monaco and Partizan Belgrade – under Obradovic – before definitively establishing himself as one of the best centers on the continent wearing Panathinaikos’s green jersey.

His time in Athens has already been marked by collective and individual success. The highlight remains winning the EuroLeague title during the 2023-2024 season, a historic campaign for the Greek club. On a personal level, Lessort earned two consecutive nominations to the EuroLeague All-Five team, in 2023 and 2024, in addition to a Greek championship title and two Greek Cups. However, a serious left leg injury in December 2024 halted his momentum. Having returned and then been sidelined again following ankle surgery, the former Elan Chalon academy player is eager to enjoy a full season as he will turn 31 at the very start of the campaign.

At the international level, the track record is equally impressive, though he has not been able to rejoin the French national team since the Paris Olympics. A cornerstone of the French team in recent years, Lessort won the silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics after claiming bronze at the 2019 World Cup. A full season could allow him to return to the squad, despite enormous competition (Wembanyama, Gobert, Raynaud, Sarr, Diabaté, etc.).

Will Mathias Lessort return to the French national team before the 2027 World Cup?