Before Game 1 of the Conference Finals, Jalen Williams, Luke Kornet, and De’Aaron Fox were all questionable. Two veteran ESPN reporters, Tim MacMahon and Michael C. Wright, were at the Paycom Center to get an update or spot something others might have missed. The former even asked questions in the parking lot while the latter was locked in, staring at Fox’s ankle. Seeing her colleagues’ commitment to indigenous methods, host Malika Andrews on NBA Today was truly taken aback.

“Malika, I got to tell you, I have never stared at a man’s ankle so much in my life,” Wright began about De’Aaron Fox’s availability. “I hope De’Aaron doesn’t feel a certain kind of way about me after this morning.” This statement broke Andrews as she failed to control her laughter and even put a hand to cover her face. But Wright’s method and his statement about the San Antonio Spurs guard would leave anyone laughing on the floor.

Being a true professional, the host made sure that she didn’t laugh loudly to throw her colleagues off. Before the injury update and Wright’s staring at Fox’s ankle, Andrews stated, “Tim, maybe stop running up on coaches in parking lots. We appreciate the insight there.” She found out Tim MacMahon was using the parking lot to get an advantage over the others.

” I actually, I saw Mark Daigneault in the parking lot, and I said, ‘Hey man, is J-Dub starting tonight?’ I got it swatted back in my face. This brilliant coach played dumb. ‘Oh, gee whiz. You know, I don’t know. I guess we’ll find out tonight.'” Jalen Williams returned to the Thunder lineup after he missed six games because of a left hamstring strain. But the length that MacMahon and Wright were appreciated by Andrews, even though they were out of the box. “The two of you are quite a pair, staring at ankles and running up in parking lots,” she concluded.

De’Aaron Fox’s injury helps the Spurs create history

While Wright kept staring, he still got the update as Fox missed Game 1 of the Conference Finals. It was the same injury that forced him briefly out of San Antonio’s series-clinching Game 6 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the conference semis. He did eventually return to the floor, but tonight was not the case. Fox was present before the tip-off training and even participated in the shoot-around. But the Spurs wanted to avoid any risk associated with it.

“It’s one of those deals where it’s not going away for as long as we’re playing, I don’t believe,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said before the game. “I know they’ll do everything they can to play, and that’s just where they’re at.” With De’Aaron Fox being out, rookie guard Dylan Harper took his place. Thus, they had the youngest starting lineup in NBA conference finals history. Harper, (200, Stephon Castle (21), Devin Vassell (25), Julian Champagnie (24), and their star center, Victor Wembanyama (22).

This starting lineup is 279 days younger (average age of this starting lineup is 22 years and 346 days) than the previous record holders, the 1977 Trail Blazers team that won the championship. The Spurs entered Monday with a 7-3 record without Fox this season. And without him, they needed double-overtime to beat OKC, 122-115.