De'Aaron Fox reveals irreversible long-term effects of injured finger

De'Aaron Fox played in 62 games this season and did so with a dislocated pinky finger on his shooting hand. Ultimately, he ended his campaign early to address it, but he battled through it for most of the year. Recently, he appeared on The Deep 3 podcast and revealed exactly how it happened, telling the hosts that it will never be the same again.

"It's never going to be all the way straight again but as long as it's not in the way, I'm good." - De'Aaron Fox

The Spurs are fortunate to have Fox in the lineup

The San Antonio Spurs acquired Fox in a three-way trade with the Sacramento Kings before the trade deadline this season. When he arrived, the speedy point guard was averaging 25/6/5 but those numbers dropped to 19/7/4 in the 17 games he played with his new team.

There are several reasons for some of the struggles he had. Fox joined the Silver and Black right as they were beginning a month-long road trip. They played in Austin twice in the middle of the gauntlet, but playing games in friendly arenas doesn't make them home games. He needed to adjust to new teammates without getting settled, and being able to catch his breath after his first NBA trade.

Swipa spent the first eight years of his career in California, so moving teams was a major change for him. Doing so without being able to get established in your new city makes everything more difficult as there is no peace of mind. When you add in the uncertainty of Coach Pop's health and losing Victor Wembanyama due to the blood clot, you have an adversity sandwich few can stomach.

When Vic went down, Fox could have shut down his season immediately. However, he showed leadership and toughness by sticking it out longer to develop some chemistry on the floor with his new teammates. The team didn't do a lot of winning but that familiarity will come in handy when next season begins.

The Spurs will surprise people who aren't paying attention to what the franchise is building. They have a generational player quickly reaching global superstardom, their fourth overall draft pick of last year's draft just held down the Rookie of the Year lead for over two months straight, and they've added Fox—widely recognized as one of the most clutch players in the league.

That doesn't account for picking up Harrison Barnes for a can of sardines who's having a career year or the development of Julian Champagnie as a sniper who can catch fire, or Keldon Johnson's emergence as one of the league's best offensive weapons off the bench. The pieces are coming together. A few more tweaks to the roster and added development from the core guys and the Spurs are officially back.

Watch the entire De'Aaron Fox interview below!