Derrick White (ankle) out vs. Heat, no timeline provided for return

The San Antonio Spurs are reporting that Derrick White will miss tomorrow’s match-up with the Miami Heat with a sprained right ankle, but information about the extent of the injury or a timeline for his return has not been provided. Trey Lyles also remains out with an ankle injury.

White suffered the sprained ankle a few minutes into the third quarter of last night’s game against the Washington Wizards when he landed on Jakob Poeltl’s foot while contesting a shot. The Spurs would go on to win the game 146-143 in OT.

White has already missed 24 games this season due to offseason toe surgery, another foot injury, and COVID. The fact that a timeline has not been provided for his return may or may not be a good thing. On one hand, if an MRI has been performed, then no news is possibly good news. On the other, uncertainty is never a positive.

There are 20 days (or just under 3 weeks) left in the regular season for the Spurs, ending with a home mini-series against the Phoenix Suns on May 15/16. A standard Grade 2 sprain tends to take 4-6 weeks to heal, so if White suffered a Grade 2 or worse, he could very well be out the remainder of the season, or at least until the playoffs, and the Spurs will likely have to get there via the play-in tournament.

Get well soon, Derrick! Here’s to hoping your season is not over.