De’Aaron Fox says he played most of the Spurs’ playoff run hurt: ‘It’s no sweat off my back’

SAN ANTONIO — Oct. 14, 2026 — Four months after the play that defined his summer, De’Aaron Fox is finally telling the part of the story most people skipped: he spent most of the San Antonio Spurs’ run to the NBA Finals on a right high ankle sprain that normally costs a player four to six weeks.

Fox opened up to Andscape’s Marc J. Spears at the Spurs’ shootaround in Salt Lake City on Monday, and his answer to the noise that followed him all offseason was short.

“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.”

Why he never sat down

The sprain came in Game 4 of the second round against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Fox missed the first two games of the Western Conference finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder, then played the last five as San Antonio won the series in seven. He was clearly not himself, averaging 11.2 points on 36.5% shooting and 22.7% from three against OKC, well below the 18.6 points and 6.2 assists he averaged in the regular season.

His only previous playoff trip had been a first-round exit with the Sacramento Kings in 2023, and he said that history made the choice simple. He pointed to Tyrese Haliburton, who played through a calf strain in Game 7 of the 2025 Finals before tearing his Achilles, as the clearest example of how players weigh that risk.

“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.”

“I played more games in the playoffs hurt than I did healthy. It is what it is. It happened. People can talk. It’s no sweat off my back.”

The Anunoby block, revisited

The criticism peaked after Game 4 of the Finals at Madison Square Garden. The Spurs led 76-49 at halftime, and Fox went 2-for-8 with two turnovers on a team-high 44 second-half touches as the New York Knicks came all the way back. With San Antonio up one, about 13 seconds left and the shot clock off, Fox ran a fast break instead of holding the ball or drawing a foul. OG Anunoby chased him down and blocked the layup, then won the game 107-106 with a tip-in at 1.3 seconds. New York closed out the title in Game 5.

Fox did not pretend the play was nothing.

“I’ve definitely thought about it. It happened. Obviously, knowing the outcome I’d definitely try to play it differently. I can’t say I thought about it in the past month as we’ve gotten ready for this season. But I thought about it over the summer, for sure.”

He said it took about two months, spent mostly at home in Houston and on vacation in Jamaica, to move on. “You don’t want to just sit here and dwell on that, knowing you have another season to get ready for,” he said.

Mitch Johnson backs his guard

Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said keeping Fox on the floor was a shared decision inside the building, and he made clear the episode raised his opinion of the 28-year-old.

“De’Aaron Fox has proven throughout his career, before he got to us and with us, that he is a tough, durable player. When you look back at the playoffs in totality, when you look at the Minnesota series, the Oklahoma City series and into the Finals, he proved exactly that. Nothing has changed there.”

What changes this season

Fox is healthy again and set to start in a three-guard lineup with Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper next to Victor Wembanyama. That trio played only 69 minutes together last season and was outscored by 47 points, according to reportsWright, so new lead assistant Billy Donovan has spent camp working the three of them together. Fox said Donovan has done this before, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chris Paul and Dennis Schroder in Oklahoma City.

Fox also hosted Wembanyama, Tobias Harris and other teammates for summer workouts at his home gym outside Houston. His goal for the year is the obvious one, with a warning attached.

“We want to get back to where we were, but it’s a long season. We’ve gotten better. Being able to get to that position, we understand what it takes. But we can’t get bored with the regular season, because we can put ourselves in a tough position to get back there. A lot of teams don’t get back there.”