De’Aaron Fox says he doesn’t have basketball on his timeline after Finals noise
Oct 14, 2026
The story
De’Aaron Fox says he was not scrolling through the pile-on after San Antonio’s Finals run ended. In an Andscape interview with Marc J.
The story
Spears, the Spurs guard said he ignored podcasts and social noise after playing through a right high ankle sprain — and that he does not keep basketball chatter on his timeline at all.
“I don’t have basketball on my timeline. No one is calling me talking. I can’t do nothing about all the other things. Everybody has a podcast. Everyone thinks their opinion matters,” Fox told Spears.
What Fox said about the noise
On why he kept playing: “This is my first time in the conference finals and the Finals. There is no way I can’t play right now. If it were the regular season, I definitely wouldn’t have played.”
What Fox said about the noise
He also shrugged off the second-guessing that followed. “I played more games in the playoffs hurt than I did healthy… People can talk. It’s no sweat off my back.”
The ankle that never got a normal timeline
Fox suffered the high ankle sprain in Game 4 of the second round against the Minnesota Timberwolves — an injury that typically sidelines NBA players for four to six weeks.
The ankle that never got a normal timeline
He still finished that series, missed the first two Western Conference finals games against the Oklahoma City Thunder, then returned for the remaining five as San Antonio won in seven.
The ankle that never got a normal timeline
Hampered against OKC, he averaged 11.2 points on 36.5% shooting from the field and 22.7% from three. Regular-season production had been far healthier: 18.6 points, 6.2 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game.
The ankle that never got a normal timeline
Fox said he was partly inspired by Tyrese Haliburton playing through a calf strain in the 2025 Finals.
The ankle that never got a normal timeline
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson later framed keeping Fox available as a collective decision inside the organization and praised the guard’s toughness across Minnesota, Oklahoma City and the Finals.
Game 4, the summer, and moving on
Criticism peaked after Finals Game 4 at Madison Square Garden. With San Antonio up one late, Fox tried to beat OG Anunoby for a layup; Anunoby blocked the shot, then tipped in the winner after a Brunson miss.
Game 4, the summer, and moving on
Fox said he replayed the sequence over the summer for roughly two months, then closed the book so he could get healthy and prepare for another season. The Andscape conversation finds him focused on getting back to that stage — not on re-litigating every podcast take from June.
Photo credit
De’Aaron Fox watching Marvin Bagley take a free throw during a Sacramento Kings game, March 2019. File photo: TropicAces · CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized.
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