On Friday, NBA Writer Michael C. Wright released an exclusive interview on ESPN with All-Star guard De'Aaron Fox. The conversation was the first time that Fox has spoken extensively with media since he was traded to San Antonio.
In the interview, Fox spilled the beans about why he requested a trade and his thoughts on the Sacramento Kings firing Mike Brown.
It turns out that Fox never wanted the Kings to fire Brown, and the moment they decided to do so despite his wishes was the straw that broke the camel's back. That is what ultimately led to Fox requesting a trade from Sacramento.
Anyway, while discussing the Brown firing, Fox made an interesting remark. Here is what he said:
"During Mike's extension talks, some guys in the locker room didn't want Mike," Fox said. "Some guys wanted him to be fired during the summer. ... But I'm not going to say [who]."
The reason I want to highlight this remark is that I have strange suspicions about the player Fox refused to name. I think the player he is alluding to is none other than his former All-Star teammate, Domantas Sabonis.
Why Sabonis was the one Fox was talking about
Fox and Sabonis spent nearly three years running pick-and-roll and dribble handoffs together. On the court, they seemed to be a great tandem. Unfortunately, it appears they weren't that close off of it, as Fox quickly unfollowed Sabonis on Instagram after being traded from the Kings.
Maybe the reason there was a rift in their relationship was because they had diverging takes on Brown. Fox clearly loved Brown and petitioned for him to keep being the team's head coach. He probably wouldn't be too happy with anyone who wanted someone different.
During his talk with Wright, Fox mentioned that a reason why he wanted Brown to stay was that he didn't feel like dealing with a new coach. After all, he had five coaches in his seven and a half years in Sacramento. All that change would make anyone resentful. It would make sense that Sabonis (who only has had three coaches in his time with the Kings) wouldn't be as sensitive to a coaching change and would be okay voicing his frustrations with Sabonis.
Lastly, Sabonis was the only other All-Star caliber player on the team when the extension talks were going on. DeMar DeRozan hadn't joined the team yet. So, Sabonis was the only player on the team who commanded enough respect from the front office (outside of maybe Malik Monk) to have a real say in who is the team's head coach.
We will likely never know for certain who Fox was talking about when he made those comments. But there is a lot of evidence that suggests he could have been talking about Sabonis.