Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox goes down with ankle injury during practice in Orlando
.JPG "Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox (5) hangs on the basket after scoring against the Boston Celtics during a game at Golden 1 Center on Sunday March 25, 2018 in Sacramento, Calif.")
Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox will be out at least a week after suffering a sprained ankle during Wednesday’s practice at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando.
The team said an MRI conducted Wednesday evening confirmed Fox sustained a left ankle sprain during practice. He will be reevaluated in 7-10 days. Fox missed 17 games earlier this season after suffering a grade 3 sprain to the left ankle during a Nov. 11 practice session.
This injury does not appear to be as serious, but Fox will miss crucial practice and conditioning time as the Kings prepare to resume the NBA season July 31 against the San Antonio Spurs. He will likely miss Sacramento’s scrimmage against the Miami Heat on July 22 and might miss scrimmages against the Milwaukee Bucks on July 25 and Los Angeles Clippers on July 27.
Fox, who was chosen out of Kentucky with the No. 5 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, is averaging 20.4 points, 6.8 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.4 steals in his third NBA season. He finished third in voting for the Most Improved Player award after averaging 17.3 points and 7.3 assists in 2018-19.
The Kings have only 15 more days to prepare to resume the NBA season, which was suspended in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Kings will play the first of eight seeding games against the San Antonio Spurs on July 31.
Fox and the Kings were surging when play was suspended. They had won seven of 10 and 13 of their last 20 to move into a three-way tie for ninth in the Western Conference, 3 ½ games behind the Memphis Grizzlies for the No. 8 seed. In order to end the NBA’s longest active postseason drought after 13 consecutive losing seasons, the Kings will have to outperform the Grizzlies, Portland Trail Blazers and New Orleans Pelicans in seeding games and then beat the Grizzlies twice under a play-in scenario.
More misfortune for Kings
Making the playoffs will be a more difficult task given all the roster uncertainty Kings coach Luke Walton is facing. Four players have tested positive for the coronavirus and another was sent to his room for 10 days after breaking COVID-19 protocol inside the NBA bubble.
Buddy Hield and Jabari Parker joined the team Sunday after recovering from COVID-19, but Harrison Barnes and Alex Len have yet to arrive. Richaun Holmes must remain in his room for six more days after being placed under a 10-day quarantine order because he crossed NBA campus lines to pick up a food delivery.
Walton said Wednesday there was nothing new to report on Barnes and Len, who are still in Sacramento trying to clear COVID-19 protocols after contracting the virus.
Walton said Holmes should be eligible to resume team activities July 22, the day the Kings play their first scrimmage. The NBA allowed the Kings to send exercise equipment to Holmes’ room and he is participating in Zoom training sessions with the team’s strength coach, but Walton said after 10 days in isolation Holmes will not be immediately cleared for full-contact activity.
The soonest Holmes could return would be the July 25 scrimmage against the Milwaukee Bucks or the team’s final scrimmage against the Los Angeles Clippers on July 27.
Fox’s previous ankle injury
The Kings said Fox would be reevaluated in three to four weeks when he went down with the grade-3 sprain in November. Dr. Mark Drakos, an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in sports-related injuries, explained the severity of the injury in an interview with The Sacramento Bee.
“A grade-3 sprain means there was a tear of two of the ligaments on the outside of the ankle,” said Drakos, a foot and ankle surgeon at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.
“Grade 1 is a partial tear of one or both ligaments. Grade 2 is a complete tear of one and a partial tear of the other. A grade-3 sprain is the worst of the sprains. That means there was a tear of two of the ligaments on the outside of the ankle, so it’s a significant injury in terms of contributing to the overall stability of the ankle.”
Drakos said players can be more susceptible to future ankle sprains if the injury doesn’t heal well and the ligaments remain loose.
“Nine times out of 10, the ligament heals, which is why most ankle sprains get better,” Drakos said. “In a small percentage of cases, the ligament doesn’t heal. You can have recurring ankle sprains and instability, but rarely does it require surgery.”
This story was originally published July 15, 2020 at 4:39 PM.
