De'Aaron Fox has taken his game to another level during the 2022-23 campaign. And his development into arguably the best player for the league's most exciting team, the Sacramento Kings, all starts with his ability to end games on his terms. In fact, Fox added yet another feather to his clutch cap for this season after he drained a game-winning triple against the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night.
While Fox's incredible shot-making late in games is what catches the attention of many, his impact on the Kings goes beyond that. His co-star, Domantas Sabonis, attested to the fact that Fox provides the team with some invaluable stability and composure that allows them to perform exceptionally well during clutch situations.
“[De'Aaron Fox] is Mr. Clutch,” Sabonis said with a laugh in an interview with Shams Charania of The Athletic. “In the fourth quarter, I would tell everyone now, ‘We're not where we are without him.' There's been countless games – every game – where he just takes over in the fourth. When the game's always tied – he takes over. He just does his thing, makes everyone better. His confidence kinda rubs off on all of us.”
“At the end of games, we feel a lot more calm. And we're not worried. We're down four, minute and a half left, we're like, ‘We still got this.' We're going to get a stop, we're gonna score for sure. Give the ball to [Fox] and he does the rest.”
Kings star De'Aaron Fox continues All-NBA push: 32 points, game-winner vs. Bulls: "Mr. Clutch. At the end of games, we feel a lot more calm. We're going to get a stop … give the ball to (Fox) and he does the rest."
Full Fox-Domantas Sabonis sitdown coming soon at @Stadium: pic.twitter.com/OXGt98hsDN
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 16, 2023
De'Aaron Fox does indeed take over at the end of games. Fox ranks fourth in points per game during the fourth quarter, behind only Kyrie Irving, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and LeBron James — elite company to say the least. Meanwhile, the Kings star point guard leads all qualified players in clutch (games within five with less than five minutes left in the game) scoring per game with 5.3.
In fact, beyond his game-winner against the Bulls, Fox had 15 points in the payoff period to, once again, will his Kings to victory. While Fox isn't alone in transforming the Kings into the beloved Beam Team everyone has come to love, he surely is at the heart of their push into becoming one of the best teams in the NBA with one clutch performance after another.
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