De'Aaron Fox
Getty
De'Aaron Fox remains confident in the San Antonio Spurs, even with injuries to key players mounting.
TheSan Antonio Spurs are off to a 9-4 start and are fifth in the Western Conference, but they have sustained injuries to multiple star players this season. No. 2 overall pickDylan Harper has been out since November 2 with aleft calf strain,Victor Wembanyama just went on the mend with thesame ailment andStephon Castle, the reigning NBA Rookie of the Year, will nowmiss at least one game.
Despite the injuries piling up for San Antonio, point guardDe’Aaron Fox remains confident in the team. He said that the way the roster is built, the Spurs should be able to withstand the absence of any key players and continue to pick up wins while they get healthy.
Fox missed time himself to begin the season as he dealt with a hamstring injury sustained in an offseason workout. Now that he’s back to full strength, the All-Star will have to guide an offense down three starters. He showed he’s more than capable on Sunday, November 16, dropping a team-high 28 points in a 123-110 win over theSacramento Kings, his former team.
De’Aaron Fox Remains Confident In San Antonio Spurs
The Spurs snapped a two-game losing streak on Sunday with a win at Frost Bank Center, their first game without Wembanyama this season. Castle also left the game at halftime with hip soreness.
Fox, however, thinks the Spurs can overcome the injuries with their roster depth, as they did against the Kings.
“Obviously, we want everybody to be healthy, but the way that this team is built, we’re able to withstand those types of things,”Fox told ClutchPoints.
“Even when I was out and then Dylan goes out, we still have a talented group of guys out there playing, and when one guy goes down, not just one person steps up, but I think our entire team steps up. We have seven guys [against Sacramento] in double figures, two guys with 20. Those are things that this group’s able to do whenever guys go down with injury.”
San Antonio is going to need everyone on its roster to contribute without Harper, Wembanyama and Castle, but Fox should prove to be particularly important. The Spurs acquired him at the trade deadline last season in part to be a veteran presence for a young team, and he’ll have to keep the morale high going forward.
“Whenever you have those two games that you might drop or even if you might lose three games in a row, you have to figure out a way to not let that snowball. Those are the signs of teams that are trying to win championships,” Fox said.
San Antonio Spurs Have Challenging Road Ahead
With Wembanyama out for at least the next two weeks, the Spurs will have a challenging slate of games, particularly next week.
San Antonio will face theMemphis Grizzlies andAtlanta Hawks at home before hitting the road to face thePhoenix Suns on Sunday, November 23. They will then have three straight away games against a peskyPortland Trail Blazers squad, theDenver Nuggets and theMinnesota Timberwolves.