Mason Plumlee is available to play for the San Antonio Spurs. This marks the first time since joining the team that he is fit to play.
Plumlee’s Journey to San Antonio
Plumlee was waived by Charlotte after the trade deadline. He then signed with San Antonio, initially on a 10-day contract before agreeing to a deal for the remainder of the season.
He has been recovering from groin surgery he underwent in December. Plumlee told reporters he is now ready to make his debut.
“My body feels great, they had a good plan to get me back to playing shape, and I’m ready to go,” he said. “We’ve been playing pickup, 5-on-5, getting up and down, to me that’s the best way to get in basketball shape.”
What Plumlee Adds to the Spurs
Mitch Johnson spoke about what Plumlee brings to the team. Johnson said the team wanted to add depth and thought Plumlee was a different type of player than Bismack Biyombo and Kelly Oubre.
Johnson met Plumlee when he was a high school recruit. “I hosted him at Stanford, so I’ve known him for a long time. He was a rookie for KG and Paul Pierce in Brooklyn, so there’s quite a bit of experience and stories,” Johnson said.
Johnson added, “He is a guy that has played with high level players and played a few different types of roles, and has seen different levels of success throughout this league, on different teams, and to be able to add someone that we feel like is in addition to our group, that’s something that we felt like we could continue to add depth to, as well as being the type of quality person that he is, is a positive.”
Plumlee’s Impressions of the Spurs
Plumlee has been impressed with the Spurs team. “Right now the way that our team’s playing, the ball’s moving really well they’re playing really fast, it’s an unselfish group. All characteristics of teams I really enjoy playing on,” Plumlee said.
Plumlee added, “The last couple weeks presented a lot of different challenges in terms of personnel matchups, schedule, whatever, and this group’s met the challenge each time. The talent, the depth, the youth in a good way, I still believe big things for this group.”
Plumlee wanted to come to San Antonio. “Once I knew I was free, I reached out myself to a couple people here and just said, ‘Hey, if there’s a spot, I’d love to be here,’ and it worked out that way,” Plumlee said. “So I feel fortunate that they took a chance on me coming off of injury. It’s a blessing.”
Plumlee won three consecutive high school state championships before four years at Duke and an NCAA title. He’s played in 12 playoff series and 71 postseason games, the same number of games as Harrison Barnes. As this special Spurs season continues he’ll have a shot to be a part of a deep run.