San Antonio Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan will be out indefinitely after he broke his left thumb, the team announced on Tuesday afternoon.
Sochan sustained a fracture in the proximal phalanx of his left thumb in their 113-104 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night in Southern California. It’s unclear how long Sochan will be sidelined, but he is set to undergo surgery later this week.
Sochan went down in the second quarter of Monday’s game at the Intuit Dome, and he did not return. He finished with four points and three rebounds in 12 minutes.
Sochan, who the Spurs selected with the No. 9 overall pick out of Baylor in 2022, has gotten off to a hot start this season in San Antonio. He’s averaged 15.4 points and 7.7 rebounds through seven games, both of which are career-highs, while shooting better than 51% from the field. He had a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds in their win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday.
The Spurs are still without head coach Gregg Popovich, too. Popovich is out indefinitely due to a health issue he reportedly first experienced last weekend. Specifics surrounding his absence aren’t known, and it’s unclear when the 75-year-old will be able to rejoin the team. Popovich, who is the longest-tenured coach in the league, first missed Saturday’s game against the Timberwolves after he was “just not feeling well.” Assistant coach Mitch Johnson is serving as the team’s interim coach in the meantime.
“[Popovich has] been tremendous for me personally, and right now his health is the No. 1 priority,” Johnson said Monday night. “We support him in that 100% and I talked to him last night. He’s in good spirits. He’s OK, and we can’t wait to have him back.”
The Spurs hold a 3-4 record after Monday’s loss, which snapped a two-game losing skid. They will take on the Houston Rockets next on Wednesday night before returning to San Antonio to kick off a five-game homestand at the Frost Bank Center.