Fans in shock over NBA star's mangled finger

San Antonio Spurs centre Joffrey Lauvergne has produced one of the toughest spells of NBA defence in years, playing nearly 20 seconds while trying to straighten out a dislocated finger.

The 211-centimetre Frenchman suffered the injury to the tip of a finger on his right hand on offence against the Oklahoma City Thunder

Although he realised his injury halfway down the court, Lauvergne decided to play through it instead of calling an immediate timeout.

He failed to put it back in place and jogged towards his team's bench, where multiple fans and even the legendary coach Gregg Popovich turned away after seeing the gruesome injury.

The Spurs had lost young swingman Kyle Anderson to a reported medial knee sprain only 10 minutes before Lauvergne's minor problem.

Lauvergne returned to the floor to continue playing after having the finger fixed and taped up by the doctor.

What a boss.