When the Sacramento Kings showed up to face a Spurs team without Victor Wembanyama, fans thought they might have a chance. Unfortunately, it was former King De'Aaron Fox who stepped up for San Antonio, proving he's still an elite point guard, and Sacramento should have fought to keep him.
It was literally earlier this year that Fox was still the point guard for the Kings. He had played for the team for several seasons and had essentially become the face of the franchise. The Kings even made the choice to trade Tyrese Haliburton at one point to build around Fox.
Then came the firing of former head coach Mike Brown relatively early in the 2024-2025 season. This reportedly led to Fox requesting a trade away from the Kings, which sent him to the Spurs. Yesterday's game was Fox's first against his former team, and he definitely made a statement.
De'Aaron Fox remains all elite
With the Spurs' star Victor Wembanyama out with left calf tightness, this left somewhat of an opening for the Kings to get a much needed win. That opening got even bigger during the course of the game when Stephon Castle left in the first half with a left hip injury.
But it was Fox who led the way for the Spurs, pushing them towards a big win without two of their top stars. Fox finished the game with 28 points, 11 assists, two rebounds, and one steal. He shot 55% from the field, hitting 11 out of 20 of his field goals. He also went four for eight from three.
This was the definition of a game-winning performance. Despite missing much of the early 2025-2026 season with an injury, Fox stepped up as the point guard and took control of what could have been a bad situation for his team.
The Kings should not have let Fox go
No one was completely sure why Fox asked for the trade from the Kings. Speculation at the time was that he was frustrated with Mike Brown and was done with the franchise. Since then, it's been discussed that he was actually angry Brown was fired, leading to his departure.
The Kings' faceoff with the Spurs proved that Sacramento should have worked harder to keep him. Maybe there was no fixing the damage that was done by Brown's termination. Maybe Fox was just tired of years of instability and frustration under Vivek Ranadive's tenure as co-owner.
Whatever the reason was for Fox's departure, he certainly made the Kings regret letting him go. He proved that he is worth every penny the Spurs are paying him to be their starting point guard, and that he belongs in the upper echelon of those who have played that position.