San Antonio Spurs forward David Jones Garcia, left, talks with assistant coach Corliss Williamson during practice at Madison Square Garden in New York, Wednesday, June 10, 2026, ahead of Game 4 of the NBA Finals against the New York Knicks.
Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News
PHOENIX — David Jones Garcia didn’t need a medical professional to tell him he was in trouble.
All he needed was a set of working ears.
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For 24 years, the Spurs guard had walked the Earth as an ambulatory human. He had never once heard his ankle make that sound.
“I heard a pop,” Jones Garcia said, “and I knew I was done.”
The gruesome right ankle injury Jones Garcia suffered last January while playing for the Austin Spurs in a G League game didn’t just bring his promising rookie season to a premature end.
For a time, it brought Jones Garcia himself to a standstill. The injury sent him into a funk so deep he barely wanted to leave the house.
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Healthy and back on the floor for his second NBA preseason, which continued Saturday in Phoenix, Jones Garcia is beginning to feel like himself again.
Or maybe like someone new altogether.
“It’s like I’ve been reborn,” Jones Garcia said.
According to his birth certificate, Jones Garcia was born November 24, 2001 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
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In basketball terms, however, Jones Garcia now celebrates a new birthday: Oct. 8, 2026.
Playing in his first competitive basketball game in nearly nine months, Jones Garcia pumped in 14 quick points in 15 second-half minutes in the Spurs’ 123-116 preseason-opening loss to Atlanta on Thursday.
Jones Garcia is back on a two-way contract, but the Spurs have an open spot on their 15-man roster that could give him a path to a full NBA deal.
He hopes to compete with veteran returnee Jordan McLaughlin as a fourth point guard behind the star trio of De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper.
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San Antonio Spurs guard David Jones Garcia (25) goes up for a shot through a sea of Atlanta Hawks defenders during the fourth quarter at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. The Spurs fell 123-116 to the Hawks in the preseason opener.
Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News
Atlanta Hawks guard Kingston Flemings (4) gets past San Antonio Spurs guard David Jones Garcia (25) to make a layup during the fourth quarter at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. The Spurs fell 123-116 to the Hawks in the preseason opener.
Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News
Spurs’ David Jones Garcia takes a shot over De’Aaron Fox during the Silver & Black Scrimmage at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026.
Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News
So far, so good for the 6-foot-4 Jones Garcia.
“He looks healthy,” coach Mitch Johnson said. “If people didn’t know, I don’t think someone would say he looks like someone coming off an injury like that.”
Make no mistake, Jones Garcia most certainly is coming off an injury like that. He has the scars, both visible and invisible, to show for it.
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The pop Jones Garcia heard emanating from his lower right leg was only the start of the story.
The ankle was broken, and injury that would require season-ending surgery to solve. A lengthy and grueling rehab process followed.
For six weeks, Jones Garcia — whose livelihood depends on quick-twitch drives and sudden changes of direction — was prohibited from walking unassisted.
He had to ride an electric scooter everywhere.
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Which meant he wanted to go nowhere.
“I barely wanted to leave my house,” Jones Garcia said. “I didn’t want people to feel sorry for me. I didn’t want to be seen.”
For Jones Garcia, the injury brought a record-scratching end to what had been, up to that point, a feel-good rookie season.
One of only two Dominican-born players on active NBA rosters — Golden State’s Al Horford is the other – Jones Garcia earned a training camp spot with the Spurs after a standout 2025 Summer League.
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He made the team on a two-way contract, splitting his time between San Antonio and the G League, where he had been a star the previous season with the Mexico City Capitanes.
Jones Garcia announced himself to the NBA with 12 points in a Nov. 20 victory over Atlanta, quickly becoming a fan favorite at the Frost Bank Center, then went back to tearing up the G League.
In late January, Jones Garcia was named a participant in the Rising Stars Challenge at All-Star weekend.
By then, however, his season was already over. Season-ending ankle surgery was looming.
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The ankle injury cost Jones Garcia more than valuable time in his NBA development. For a while, it left him wondering who he was without basketball.
“Obviously I love the game of basketball,” Jones Garcia said. “Without the game, I was down on myself. It was hard. I basically locked myself in my house.”
Then there was the scooter, which Jones Garcia came to loathe with the intensity of a toddler staring down a plate of green vegetables.
He absolutely hated the thing.
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“I’m used to being on my two feet, running and jumping,” Jones Garcia said. “Being on that scooter for a little while, it’s hard to believe.”
With basketball taken away, Jones Garcia found other ways to pass the time. He renewed his interest in reading and dusted off his Xbox, sometimes firing up NBA 2K to play as himself.
He couldn’t run or jump in real life. On the screen, at least, his virtual self was still free to do both.
“I got pretty good at it,” he said.
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Day by day, Jones Garcia got back on his feet. Eventually, he got back on the court.
It wasn’t until June that he started to feel like himself again.
On the morning of Game 3 of the NBA Finals in New York, Jones Garcia joined team staffers and other end-of-the-bench players for a post-practice workout at Madison Square Garden.
For the first time in months, the finish line was finally in sight.
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“At least I was moving,” Jones Garcia said.
The injury tested Jones Garcia in ways he hadn’t anticipated. He learned something about himself.
“How patient I can be,” Jones Garcia said.
Now with a clean bill of health, Jones Garcia is done waiting.
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Last season, he kicked open the door to an NBA career, only to have it slammed shut again.
His goal now is to kick it open once more — surgically repaired ankle and all.
“It’s something I look at as a step in my career, a challenge that God sent me,” Jones Garcia said. “Now I’m here. Finally, I can get back to the game I love.”
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