Last month, the Sacramento Kings parted ways with their starting point guard of the last seven and half years, trading De'Aaron Fox to the San Antonio Spurs in a three-team deal that also involved the Chicago Bulls.
Since then, everyone has been wondering what led to this tragic breakup. And after a month of silence, we now have our answer.
De'Aaron Fox asked out because of Mike Brown
As many people expected, Fox's departure did have something to do with recently fired head coach Mike Brown. However, it wasn't because Brown pissed Fox off before he was dismissed (as many suspected). Instead, Fox was so upset that the Kings fired Brown that he decided he no longer wanted to be there.
It turns out that Fox wasn't just being political when he said he had nothing to do with Brown's firing. Fox cherished Brown and loved having him as his head coach. So much so that when the Kings let go of Brown, it drove Fox to the brink. Here is what Fox told NBA Writer Michael C. Wright in an exclusive interview for ESPN:
"I was like, 'Yo, I've been here for going on my eighth year. If Mike gets fired, I'll be going on my fifth coach,'" Fox told ESPN. "And I told them, 'I'm not going to play for another coach. I'm going to play for another team.'"
Fox was tired of the coaching carousel that he had been on with the Kings since he was drafted by them in the 2017 NBA Draft. Since Fox joined the Kings, he has been coached by Dave Joerger (2016-19), Luke Walton (2019-21), Alvin Gentry (2021-22), Mike Brown (2022-24), and Doug Christie (2024-present). That's a lot of turnover for any player to deal with, especially for someone who is tasked with being the face of the franchise.
It doesn't help that the Kings weren't necessarily perennial contenders during Fox's time with them. In his seven full seasons with the Kings, Fox only experienced two winning seasons, and he got to go to the playoffs once. Can you really blame him for wanting to go play with the prodigious big man in San Antonio?
Fox has held this stance since the offseason. He told the Kings that if they didn't extend Brown, he would not re-sign with the team when his contract was up. Fox never even officially requested a trade. He just reassured the team that his opinion had not changed from the summer after the team let go of Brown.
Given how talented Fox is, the Kings couldn't merely let him walk for nothing. They needed to get some value for him before his contract was over, which made trading him a no-brainer.