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Franchise history comes in all shapes and sizes in the NBA, just ask Sacramento Kings point guard De'Aaron Fox. He scored 24 points in the Kings 111-98 win against the Portland Trail Blazers.
With that, Fox became the fifth player in franchise history (circa 1948) to eclipse 10,000 points. He joins an exclusive list of Oscar Robertson, Jack Twyman, Mitch Richmond and Tiny Archibald. Regardless of the historic feat, Fox revealed his purpose in reaching that goal, according to The Athletic.
“We had to play desperate,” Fox said. “You don’t want to start a season 0-3, (and) obviously with two of them being at home (it was important). So we couldn’t let a younger team come in and outwork us.
“They’re on a back-to-back, but we have one tomorrow, and you never want that to be an excuse. If the ball doesn’t go in, then the ball doesn’t go in. But being outworked is something that you can’t just come in and let somebody do.”
They know all about being the underdogs. Sacramento was the No. 3 seed in the 2022-23 playoffs and took the Golden State Warriors to seven games. Although Warriors guard Stephen Curry had a historic Game 7, the Kings faithful remained confident in the franchise's direction. Fast forward one season, they were eliminated in the play-in game.
De'Aaron Fox's message proved pivotal for the Kings
Sacramento had back-to-back tough losses against the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Los Angeles Lakers. They were a two-point, and four-point losses, respectively. After Fox dropped a strong take on the Kings future, they've been living up to the promise. Sacramento went on and made an underrated splash in the offseason.
The Kings acquired DeMar DeRozan in a three-team trade. His interior scoring, mid-range prowess, and consistent free-throw tendencies have altered the offense positively. Still, there's a bit of an adjustment period adding a superstar on a young team. The good news for Sacramento is their losses were extremely close and against two of the top teams in the Western Conference.
Fox is still the team's No. 1 option, along with center Domantas Sabonis. Throwing DeRozan into the mix offers a unique blend of athleticism, inside scoring, and competitiveness for Mike Brown's squad. Also, Sabonis talked about DeRozan being the final piece of the team. Although they're 1-2, it's the beginning of the season and no need to hit the panic button.
They're competing at a high level, and Monday's victory proved to be a step in the right direction.
