There’s a lot of news around the San Antonio Spurs, and none of it is particularly positive.
Gregg Popovich remains out and away from the team indefinitely due to an undisclosed health issue. However, something long-time San Antonio News Express columnist Mike Finger Tweeted put a different light on the situation.
Something we’ve tried to convey in our coverage of the Popovich story is that this is being handled quite differently from his previous one- and two-game absences.
Still much unknown, with Spurs keeping a very tight circle. Probably wise not to take a quick return for granted.
— Mike Finger (@mikefinger) November 5, 2024
Shams Charania of ESPN echoed that sentiment, saying on NBA Today, “There is a great level of concern around the situation.”
Spurs assistant coach Mitch Johnson has been named interim head coach, a job he will have indefinitely until Popovich is healthy enough to return. The concern now is that return could be a ways off.
San Antonio also will be without forward Jeremy Sochan for likely a couple of months as he is about to undergo surgery to repair a fractured thumb suffered against the Clippers on Monday night. News that the surgery was required was broken by ESPN’s Charania. While the team gave no timeline for a return, Jeff Stotts of In Street Clothes — with his extensive database of previous injuries — predicts nearly two months.
Re: Jeremy Sochan: The thumb is made up of two bones, the proximal & distal phalanges. The proximal is closer to the base of the thumb and is part of the MCP joint. The average time lost for thumb fractures that require surgery is ~21 games (~52 days).
— Jeff Stotts (@InStreetClothes) November 5, 2024
Sochan has taken a step forward statistically this season averaging 15.4 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3 assists a game. However, he still has yet to completely mesh with Victor Wembanyama, both via the eye test and statistically the Spurs have a -2 net rating when both are on the court together (to be fair, that’s about the same as the team’s -2.6 net rating overall this season, stats via Cleaning the Glass).