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It didn't take long for De'Aaron Fox to praise new San Antonio Spurs teammate Victor Wembanyama. An admirer from a distance for much of the last season and a half, the former Sacramento King played his first game with Wemby in a 126-125 victory vs. the Atlanta Hawks.
“He's special,” Fox said of the Spurs generational talent.
“Just the type of attention that he commands on the defensive end allows you to do things that you normally wouldn't do,” the 2023 NBA All-Star continued. “So that's why I think this group can do a lot of things.”
De'Aaron Fox on Victor Wembanyama's impact
Wembanyama hit the game-winning free throw in what proved the Spurs first victory of this year's version of their annual Rodeo Road Trip. The Spurs leading scorer shared that honor with Fox Wednesday. Both put in 24 against the Hawks.
But it was Wemby's defense that grabbed his new running mate's attention.
“The rules are different,” Fox revealed about the NBA's leader in blocked shots. “All teams have defensive rules. I'm going through our personnel stuff and all the schemes and something comes up, and I've never heard this terminology before and I'm watching it.”
Earlier in the day, Fox had mentioned the team's defense as a reason he wanted to join the Spurs. The eighth year pro requested a trade from the only NBA team he'd known. He all but verified initial reports that the Spurs were his preferred destination when he highlighted San Antonio's defensive capabilities. The team's play on that side of the ball for parts of Wednesday night served as a reinforcement for Fox.
“I think Devin [Vassell] and Ju [Julian Champagnie] had nine steals together. If you continue to be that active, it makes us that much better, especially because even if you do gamble, you have somebody like Vic behind you.”
“It gives you that peace of mind,” Fox continued.
The Spurs shot out of the gate in the Houston area native's first contest with them. While they bothered Atlanta just enough defensively, they looked much more fluid on offense.
“What we did in the first half is what you have to try to replicate for as many quarters as you possibly can,” Fox shared.
His team ran out to a 20-point lead. Atlanta, Georgia area natives Vassell and Stephon Castle took turns wowing with three-pointers, drives and dunks. The Hawks, though, rallied in the second set of 24 minutes.
“That third quarter was really bad for us, but I told them we were up 18 (before Atlanta rallied), but they never took the lead,” Fox said.
The Hawks nearly drew even several times before eventually tying the game on a Trae Young basket with 8.2 remaining in the fourth quarter. Wembanyama then intentionally missed on the back end of two free throws with 2.2 left after he'd hit the first, causing the Hawks to throw up a desperation shot at the buzzer.
De’Aaron Fox says the decision for Wemby to miss that second free throw was a “team decision”…
Full answer ⬇️#GoSpursGo #PorVida pic.twitter.com/wtKcJu4Fvh
— Hector Ledesma (@HectorLedesmaTV) February 6, 2025
“They told me, actually, when that happened, they were like, ‘That's been our problem. We've had bad third quarters,'” Fox shared about his teammates.
“So we have to figure out a way to fix that.”
With Fox now in the mix, it appears an easier Fix. It sounds like the 27-year-old guard would say the same thing about Wembanyama.
