newsweek
The San Antonio Spurs' 2025-26 campaign concluded just shy of an NBA championship. San Antonio overcame the defending champion Thunder in a seven-game Western Conference Finals, advancing to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2014. However, they were unable to seal the deal against the Knicks, despite holding double-digit leads in all five games.
In Game 4, the Spurs set a Finals record for the largest halftime lead by a visiting team, yet New York orchestrated the biggest comeback in Finals history. In Game 5, San Antonio led by 16 points before the Knicks stormed back. Jalen Brunson scored 45 points and sank the go-ahead floater with just over a minute left to secure a 94-90 victory and the Finals MVP award.
The Spurs held leads in the final two minutes in three of their four losses to New York, and De'Aaron Fox bore a significant share of the blame for the Finals defeat. Recently, Fox sat down with renowned NBA reporter Marc Spears to defend his playoff performance.
"I was the second-leading scorer when I got hurt," Fox said. "Why did I play? I felt like I could help the team .. Seeing the OKC series, I thought there were things I could come out there and help with. If you ask any player and you could use Tyrese as the biggest [example] for that you know there is a chance you could get hurt if you have a calf strain. And he was like, Oh, this is Game 7 of the [2025 NBA] Finals. And for me, there is nothing more I want to do than play in this game.'"
After a high-ankle sprain in the Western Conference Finals, Fox never resembled the All-Star version of himself, scoring in single digits in three of his first four games back. In the NBA Finals, he averaged just 12.8 points while shooting 34.3% from the field and 25% from three, including a brutal 3-of-15 shooting night in Game 5, where he went scoreless in the fourth quarter.
His worst moment came in Game 4, when he drove in a contested layup instead of running out the clock with 12 seconds left and the Spurs holding a one-point lead. Fox said after the Game 5 loss that his shots "felt good" but just weren't falling.
Fox wasn't the sole reason the Spurs lost the NBA Finals, but his poor play certainly didn't help, and when you're earning $55.4 million a year, that's unacceptable. It didn't take long for fans to blast Fox for his comments.
"Brother, you went up for a layup with 15 seconds left while your team was up one instead of holding the ball, being an idiot has nothing to do with playing while injured," one user wrote. "Love how he blames his calf for him being an absolute bonehead. This generation bruh smh," another added. "He got to stop talking like everyone in the world dont have eyes the delusion really in him," one other fan wrote. "The team was better with you sitting than playing bro," another commented. "Just say you played bad and move on do better why the whole monologue of excuses," another replied. "Cant defend this play buddy," one other user added, with the clip of his brutal layup attempt in Game 4.
Originally reported by newsweek.