De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis provide injury updates as Kings open NBA training camp
Kings All-Stars De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis were dealing with aches, pains and broken bones in April when we last saw them in Game 7 of Sacramento’s memorable first-round playoff series against the Golden State Warriors.
Their injuries lingered into the offseason and through much of the summer, but both players said they were fully healed as the Kings opened training camp Tuesday at their Golden 1 Center practice facility.
Fox, who was named an All-Star and All-NBA Third Team selection for the first time last season, suffered an avulsion fracture to the tip of his left index finger in Game 4 against the Warriors. After playing the last three games of the series with a protective wrap on his finger, Fox took about a month off following the season to allow the injury to heal.
“I was able to work out — like shooting the ball — maybe four weeks after that last game, after game 7, so it wasn’t too bad,” Fox said. “I’m perfectly fine now.”
Sabonis played most of the 2022-23 season with a heavy wrap on his hand to protect an avulsion fracture of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb. The wrap was gone when Sabonis reported to team headquarters Monday for media day.
“No wrap, nothing,” Sabonis said. “Fully healthy.”
There was some concern Sabonis would need surgery to repair the damaged thumb after he sustained the injury in December, but he elected to play through pain and discomfort to avoid a prolonged absence. Sabonis revisited that discussion with doctors over the summer, but again he chose not to have the procedure, saying it’s always better “if you don’t need to put screws in your body.”
“It was either take surgery or do rehab for a long period of time,” Sabonis said. “Both the outcomes meant I couldn’t play for a month or two months, whatever it was, so we went over it.”
Sabonis, who made his third All-Star appearance last season while earning his first All-NBA Third Team selection, said he was limited to noncontact drills for eight to 12 weeks.
“I couldn’t play any contact sport for a long time,” Sabonis said. “If I went in the gym, it was shooting, just shooting, catch and shoot, nothing crazy, nothing hitting on it. Because every time it would get hit, it would get swollen again and that would just delay the healing process, so I didn’t get a lot of contact practice as much as I wanted. It was a while. It was maybe two, three months. I definitely could work on my game and my body, but nothing live against anyone else.”
This story was originally published October 3, 2023 at 1:44 PM.
