It didn’t exactly surprise his Spurs teammates to learn that De’Aaron Fox would be sidelined for the remainder of the season due to an injury. No one was surprised, notably Devin Vassell, even though the official announcement may have been made a few days early than anticipated.
Fox was candid about the persistent problem with his finger following a game against the Kings in early March, which was his first encounter with his former team since being moved. He told reporters that because the expert he needed to see was situated in Los Angeles, he and the Spurs had previously made plans to have his damaged pinky, on his dominant hand, looked out when they were there in mid-March. He even made a suggestion that surgery might be performed immediately.
One of his teammates had already admitted the possibility the day before the news was made public.
Vassell responded, “I just want De’Aaron to do whatever’s best for him in the long run,” when asked if he believed the 27-year-old star will get the procedure prior to the conclusion of the season.
Prior to their game against the Lakers, the Spurs were scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles on March 16. Fox had once again implied that he would have to fix his finger following a victory over the Mavericks three games prior.
“It’ll get taken care of soon enough,” he replied.
He acknowledged that he had been ignoring the injury much of the season. “I mean, I received a score of 60 on that. The following night, I dropped 49. “You just try to persevere,” he continued.
The Spurs announced shortly after that Fox would have surgery in Los Angeles on March 17.
The larger picture was evident to Vassell, who had spent the most of the previous three seasons as San Antonio’s second-leading scorer before to Fox’s arrival. The 24-year-old considered the implications of the decision as the announcement approached.
“Obviously, we all know this is something he needs to get taken care of,” Vassell stated. “I’m not here to advise him on what to do or not do. He will be a huge asset to our club when he is healthy, so I just want to make sure he’s okay.”
Victor Wembanyama was also sidelined due to blood clots just before Fox’s season-ending surgery.
For his part, Fox kept his thoughts about the injury to himself. “Of course, I’d love to have all five fingers fully functioning instead of taping them together,” he replied. “But it happened on the second day of training camp, so at that point, you just have to play through it.”
It made sense to shut down Fox as the Spurs were losing ground in the Western Conference Play-In competition. He didn’t discuss it much with his teammates, but it was the right choice.
“He hasn’t really explained the injury to me, so I don’t totally get how it affects him during games,” said Vassell.
His main worry, though, was straightforward: “I just want to make sure he’s good and healthy.”
Fox is currently concentrating on that very thing, but for the fall of 2025 rather than the spring.
His main worry, though, was straightforward: “I just want to make sure he’s good and healthy.”
Fox is currently concentrating on that very thing, but for the fall of 2025 rather than the spring.
