Sacramento Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox playing through pain from lingering foot injury
Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox sat in front of his locker following a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks late Wednesday night while a member of the team’s medical staff applied ointment and a light wrap to his right foot.
Fox revealed he has been playing through a lingering injury that has caused pain and discomfort for more than a month. Fox told The Sacramento Bee he sustained the injury in a Nov. 5 win over the Orlando Magic. Fox said an MRI showed he suffered a bruise to his foot.
“It’s been hurting for a while,” Fox said. “Since Orlando, actually.”
Asked how much the foot is bothering him, Fox said: “A lot.”
Fox indicated he does not expect to be sidelined by the injury as the Kings prepare to face the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in the second game of a six-game road trip.
Fox was held to 15 points, two rebounds and two assists in a 126-113 loss to the Bucks on Wednesday at Fiserv Forum. He went 5 of 16 from the field and 1 of 6 from 3-point range. That continued a recent trend for Fox, who has made just 39 of 102 (.382) field-goal attempts and 10 of 35 (.286) from beyond the arc over the past seven games.
Fox has also been playing through a recent illness and a minor thumb injury. He said he hurt his left thumb in a Nov. 30 victory over the Indiana Pacers and aggravated the injury in Wednesday’s game against the Bucks. Fox said he is getting over the illness.
“It doesn’t really hurt my chest like it was,” said.
Fox said there is no concern that he could further damage his injured right foot, saying it’s more of an issue of pain tolerance.
“I’ve played well while it was hurting, so I’ll be fine,” he said.
Fox scored 37 points in the win over Orlando, including a game-winning 3-pointer from the halfcourt logo. He also produced 30-point games against the Los Angeles Lakers on Nov. 11, the Detroit Pistons on Nov. 20 and the Memphis Grizzlies on Nov. 22, but he hasn’t looked the same over the past two weeks.
Fox, who came out of Kentucky as the No. 5 pick in the 2017 NBA draft, is averaging 22.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.6 assists. He is still shooting a career-high 50.7% from the field, 36.9% from 3-point range and a career-best 82.6% at the free-throw line despite his recent struggles. He has also been credited with spearheading the team’s dramatic defensive improvement over the past few weeks.
“He’s been really good for us the last three games setting the tone defensively, especially,” Kings coach Mike Brown said. “He can score. I’m not worried about him scoring the basketball. I just want him to continue setting the tone from the beginning of the game on the defensive end.”
