Spurs’ Fox can’t slow down despite ankle injury

De’Aaron Fox left Frost Bank Center with his right ankle still tender after Lu Dort’s late Game 3 dive worsened an injury he’d already been playing through. Despite missing time earlier in the Thunder series and returning early in the fourth of Game 3, he insi

SAN ANTONIO — De’Aaron Fox didn’t need to say much as he slowly left Frost Bank Center on Saturday night. His right ankle was still tender. and you could see it in the way he protected it after Oklahoma City Thunder’s Lu Dort drove into it like a linebacker chasing a fumble late in the third quarter of the Thunder’s Game 3 win in the Western Conference finals.

This wasn’t just a new bruise. The playoff pain had been building for nearly two weeks. Fox’s mind went back to Game 4 against Minnesota in the second round. when Ayo Dosunmu leapt for a loose ball Fox had already scooped up and fell onto the upper part of his leg. Fox and people close to him described it as an unnecessary. unfortunate choice — the kind of moment that turns “bump-and-bruises” into something that follows you.

If there’s one kind of injury that can wreck your rhythm at the wrong time, it’s a high ankle sprain. Especially when speed is your superpower.

For Fox. it has been severe enough that he re-aggravated the ankle in Game 6 against Minnesota. then missed the first two games against the Thunder because of the aftereffects. Saturday night still carried that weight. He returned early in the fourth of Game 3 after spending the late third quarter biting on his towel on the bench. then heading to the locker room for a closer look at the damage.

The Spurs’ start had felt electric — Fox and Victor Wembanyama pushed them into an explosive 15-0 run to open the game — but the finish wasn’t there. Fox’s overall line was solid enough to show he was still functional: 15 points. six assists. seven rebounds and four turnovers in nearly 31 minutes. It was also clear he wasn’t moving like himself just yet.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s definitely tough,” Fox said after Game 3. “I feel like (the Dort dive) was a play that could have been avoidable, but it is what it is. A lot of times, every team’s dealing with something. Every team’s dealing with injuries. So you chalk it up to, ‘That’s the name of the game.’”

“Obviously it is disappointing not being able to be 100 percent. But like I said, I’m able to be out there, so that’s all that matters to me right now.”

What’s striking is what Fox didn’t let take over the room: not a spiral, not a story about missed opportunities, not big-picture doubt.

Even while he’s fighting through the ankle. the noise around him has continued — including league-wide chatter about whether his time in San Antonio might be short. The idea, shared by rival executives and media folks alike, is that rookie guard Dylan Harper — the No. 2 pick in last year’s draft — is simply too good to remain on the bench for long and will eventually need to start alongside second-year guard Stephon Castle. the No. 4 pick in 2024.

That speculation comes with a financial angle. Fox signed a four-year, $229 million deal in August, and the argument is that placing Harper into a starting role could force tougher decisions about whether Fox fits into the Spurs’ future if his role is reduced.

Harper’s contract details are part of the math: he has three seasons left on his deal, with $12.9 million next season, a team option worth $13.6 million in 2027-28, and another team option worth $17.1 million in 2027-28.

But Fox’s supporters point to two things that keep getting overlooked in the outside discussion. One is simple history. This is the same organization that won four titles with Hall of Famer Manu Ginobili coming off the bench.

The other is more immediate: neither Spurs officials who make those roster calls nor Fox’s camp are portraying the situation as a looming, make-or-break ultimatum — at least not “this sort of way,” as the conversations have been described.

The framing coming from the Spurs has been different. They’re treating it like the beginning of a long relationship between Fox and the team, with the aim of multiple championships. They’re also aiming for a stability Fox didn’t always have with the Sacramento Kings.

From when Fox was drafted No. 5 in 2017. to the three-team trade that sent him to San Antonio in early February 2025. he played under six different head coaches and two front office heads. The Kings’ “Beam Team” stretch ended quickly enough to hurt — a historic playoff run in 2023 ended a 16-year drought. but what followed was dysfunction. and eventually Fox’s decision to leave.

In San Antonio, the picture has been steadier. Fox found what he called a basketball home with 39-year-old Mitch Johnson. who has been viewed as a successor to Gregg Popovich. Popovich left the sidelines after suffering a stroke four months before Fox’s arrival. and he is now the team’s president of basketball operations.

The Spurs’ recent playoff run has only added to the sense that this could be more than a short-term fix. Fox and the team have looked capable of challenging the Thunder’s reign in these past few weeks, even as attention turns to a potential Finals matchup that could include the New York Knicks.

For Fox, none of that gets crowded out by the pain — even with the ankle turned into a daily problem.

“I feel like I’ve got a lot of years left in my career,” Fox said when asked if the injury was getting him down. “Plus, I’m blessed to be in this position here, and to be doing this, so I can’t feel sorry for myself.”

The injury is inconvenient, but it isn’t erasing what Fox has already helped create this season. He averaged 18.6 points, 6.2 assists and 3.8 rebounds in 72 starts. The Spurs jumped from 34 wins to 62, two behind the Thunder for the second-best record in the league.

The goal from here is straightforward: play like it again, even if the body won’t cooperate as easily as the plan.

“We feel like we have the best team in the league,” Fox declared as he headed for the exits. “So we have to go out there and play the way that we’re supposed to play. We have confidence in ourselves.”

Fox is expected to play in Game 4 on Sunday.

De’Aaron Fox Spurs Oklahoma City Thunder Lu Dort ankle injury Frost Bank Center Western Conference finals Ayo Dosunmu Dylan Harper Stephon Castle Mitch Johnson Victor Wembanyama