Kings' De'Aaron Fox finally earns 'superstar' title for playoff dominance
Kings' Fox earning 'superstar' title for playoff dominance originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
Programming note: Kings fans can watch complete Game 3 coverage Thursday on NBC Sports California, NBCSportsCalifornia.com and the NBC Sports app. “Kings Pregame Live” starts at 6:30 p.m., followed by Mark Jones and Kayte Christensen on the game broadcast at 7, with “Kings Postgame Live” immediately after the game.
Kings guard De’Aaron Fox was voted the first annual NBA Clutch Player of the Year on Tuesday by simply being the league’s best player with the game on the line.
Unlike Coach of the Year Mike Brown, Fox wasn’t unanimously handed the award, though. Out of the 100 possible votes from a panel of writers and broadcasters, Fox received 91 first-place votes, one second-place vote and two third-place votes.
As for the six top-three votes without Fox's name?
“Your credential should be checked,” Fox jokingly said Wednesday. “One thousand percent. Those credentials need to be checked. Not top three? That’s crazy.
“I don’t use it as motivation, I’m just poking fun, but they seriously need to be looked at for sure.”
Kings fans know his regular-season clutch stats by now: a league-best 194 total clutch points, 52.9 field-goal percentage and 103 total points in the final three minutes of three-point games. Through two postseason contests, Fox also leads the playoffs in total clutch points (13). Why wouldn't he?
Fox, the former No. 5 overall pick out of Kentucky in his sixth season, is starting to receive some well-deserved national attention as his Kings boast a two-games-to-none series lead over the defending champion Warriors.
He always has been appreciated in Sacramento, but the perception of his career is quickly turning on the national stage.
“America, I want you to look at your next NBA superstar,” ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said Thursday. “He's developing right in front of your eyes. De’Aaron Fox from the Sacramento Kings."
Fox scored 15 of his 38 points in the fourth quarter in Game 1 against the Warriors. Eleven of his 24 points in Game 2 dropped in the game's final frame.
RELATED: Brown anticipates Kings won't see favorable calls in future
"De’Aaron Fox has developed a killer way to finish games because he gets to his spots with speed. And it’s not just running so fast and outrunning everybody," Windhorst said. "Teams have been setting their defense to try to stop this guy in the fourth quarter for months now. And they cannot do it because he is so fast and can stop so fast.
“De’Aaron Fox is a superstar in this league. Here he comes.”
Fox and the Kings battle the Warriors at Chase Center on Thursday night in a pivotal Game 3. Tune in to NBC Sports California at 6:30 p.m. for "Kings Pregame Live."
