The laceration on Zach Collins' left hand that forced him to miss the final two games of the season wound up requiring surgery, according to Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News.
The Spurs sent Collins home after he experienced finger swelling following Thursday’s game. Doctors discovered that the cut had become infected and determined that surgery was necessary.
“All the bad stuff is out of it now, so now I just have to recover from the operation,” Collins said. “They had to numb me up pretty good. I wasn’t completely out, but I was pretty loopy and couldn’t feel anything. They went in and pretty much flushed out all the infected stuff that was in the finger and now it is just healing. … I was in the hospital overnight. It was just so much for something so small. It was crazy.”
Collins isn’t completely sure what happened to cause the cut in an April 2 game against the Kings. He thinks someone’s fingernail may have lacerated his skin, or it could have been caused by the ball hitting his finger too hard. Collins confirmed that he jammed his left pinky and ring finger during that game.
Even though Collins’ procedure was relatively minor, he hasn’t been cleared to start offseason activities. He hopes that will happen at his next appointment.
“I meet with the doctor again (Thursday), and hopefully he can give me a better idea of when I can go out there again and work out,” Collins said. “He said he wanted me to stay around in San Antonio for about a week so they could monitor it after the surgery. But I don’t think it will be much longer before I can get out there and get going.”
Collins is eager to start preparing for next season now that he appears to have a defined role. He became the Spurs’ staring center after Jakob Poeltl was traded to Toronto in February and responded by averaging 16.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.1 blocks and 1.1 steals over his last 19 games.
Collins’ $7.7M salary for 2023-24 is non-guaranteed, but his spot on the roster seems secure after coach Gregg Popovich recently called him the starting center for next season. Collins is confident that San Antonio is ready to take a step forward after winning 22 games this year.
“We’ll be coming in with a different mindset next year, especially defensively,” he said. “I love who we have on this team right now, and whoever we add in the summer, I know the organization will grab people who will complement who we already have. And with the way we are coached, I am super optimistic.”
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