HOUSTON -- Grizzlies center Marc Gasol has a message for the fans: Calm down, he's fine.
"Please," he said.
Gasol left in the third quarter of Saturday night's double-overtime preseason game against Houston with a sore right ankle. It brought a scare to the Grizzlies, especially since Gasol underwent surgery last February to repair a non-displaced Type II fracture of the navicular bone in his right foot.
"I didn't have to leave the game. I got subbed out," said Gasol, who played 20 minutes of the Grizzlies' 134-125 victory. "Then just used (the time on the bench) to get some ice and remove my ankle tape. That was all."
Gasol went to the locker room after exiting the game and returned in the fourth quarter. During the overtimes, he was standing up and walking around with no problems. At one point, he was bouncing up and down in front of the Grizzlies' bench during a timeout.
He didn't lose the opportunity to assure the Grizzlies faithful after the game.
— Marc Gasol (@MarcGasol) October 16, 2016
"He's OK, he just got sore," Memphis coach David Fizdale said. "They will treat him (Sunday) and re-evaluate it, but I don't think it's anything to be worried about. At some point, we knew he was going to get sore, so we're expecting it to be fine."
Earlier in the day, Gasol told the medical staff his foot was sore, and after working out the soreness, he said he felt fine.
"Yeah, a little stiff, but there are days like that and you work out the stiffness," Gasol said. "We agreed that I was going to come out at the eight-minute mark (of third quarter) and I got ice and had my tape removed and nothing. Normal routine."