Mitch Johnson emphasizes belief in De’Aaron Fox ahead of Game 5Michael C. WrightJun 12, 2026, 03:30 PM ETClose
- Joined ESPN in 2010
- Previously covered Bears for ESPN.com
- Played college football at West Texas A&M
SAN ANTONIO — Spurs coach Mitch Johnson emphasized his belief in beleaguered guard De’Aaron Fox on Friday on the heels of his rough showing in the team’s loss to the New York Knicks in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
“I don’t get into social media,” Johnson mentioned. “I think I’ve been fired 212 times, and we’ve traded Fox 72 times. People have their opinions. I don’t care. I care what the people that matter in our building, our organization, in that locker room, that they know how I feel. De’Aaron Fox will have the basketball in his hands at the end of the game tomorrow, and I have the utmost confidence he’s going to deliver like he’s done countless times for us.”
Fox struggled late in Game 4 as San Antonio surrendered a 29-point lead that allowed the Knicks to make the largest comeback in NBA Finals history and extend their series lead to 3-1. New York wing OG Anunoby tipped in a Jalen Brunson miss on a 3-pointer in the final seconds to cap the rally.
De’Aaron Fox remains supported and undaunted by the criticism following Game 4. AP Photo/Ross D. FranklinFox shot 1-of-5 in the decisive fourth quarter and finished the night with a game-high four turnovers. With 13.1 seconds left to play and San Antonio leading by one point, Fox sped to the rim on what appeared to be a breakaway layup that would have extended the lead to three points. Instead, Anunoby closed fast on him and blocked the attempted layup. The sequence set up Anunoby’s winning tip. But Fox likely could have prevented that by holding the ball until the Knicks were forced to foul him, which would have sent him to the free throw line.Fox remains undaunted by the criticism.”It’s not like people have my phone number and can call me,” Fox mentioned smiling. “I don’t watch those shows. It doesn’t matter. It is what it is. Can’t change it now. It is what it is. We’re trying to move on from that, continue to learn from the mistakes we made, how we lost the lead, finished the game poorly. We think about the next game.”That’s the mentality the entire team plans to take into Game 5 on Saturday with the Spurs on the brink of elimination. San Antonio has held double-digit leads in every game thus far in this series, and Johnson believes the Spurs have dictated the outcome in each of the first four games.Editor’s Picks
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San Antonio didn’t practice Friday, but the team participated in a film session before the media availability.
“Just not executing [is what we saw on the film],” Spurs forward Devin Vassell told ESPN. “There were a lot of defensive mistakes that we made, just not communicating. Then, offensively, just staying in our game plan and not steering away from it. We got some good looks. But with our guards, with Fox and Steph [Castle] just putting pressure on the rim, we feel like when we put pressure on the rim it opens up everything. We’ll be all right.”
Superstar Victor Wembanyama agreed, saying every player in the team’s locker room believes the Spurs can become just the second team in history to rally from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals to come back and win the series, joining the Cleveland Cavaliers, who did so in 2016.
“Yeah, absolutely,” Wembanyama mentioned. “Everybody thinks, everybody knows we’re going to do it. We need to isolate that one game and take it one game at a time. It would be a mistake to waste our energy on multiple games. It’s one game at a time.”
