"America, I want you to look at your next NBA superstar" - Brian Windhorst compares De'Aaron Fox to Michael Jordan & LeBron James
De'Aaron Fox and the Sacramento Kings have cemented their place as one of the elite teams in the NBA this season. With the Kings up 2-0 over the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs, Fox's play has earned considerable praise.
In Game 2, he put up an impressive stat line on both ends of the floor. He had 25 points, five rebounds and nine assists despite going just 2-for-10 from the 3-point line. On defense, Fox managed to lead the game with four steals, while adding a block to his already impressive night in the 114-106 win.
In Game 1, he posted arguably one of his best stat lines of the year, with 38 points on 50% shooting from beyond the arc. Between his 38, and Malik Monk's 32 points, the Kings were able to secure a 126-123 win.
During a recent ESPN appearance, Brian Windhorst spoke about Fox's emergence as a superstar in today's league:
"America, I want you to look at your next NBA superstar. He's developing right in front of your eyes. De'Aaron Fox from the Sacramento Kings. He's got a good shot to, he almost won the clutch award unanimously this week like his coach did, not quite but he's got a good shot to make the All-NBA team when it comes out.
"This guy is an absolute stud. ... De'Aaron Fox has developed something that is worth more than his weight in platinum. He's developed spots he can get to where he knows he can execute. That's a huge thing to do. You look at the greats in history who have done that whether it's Larry Bird, whether it's Michael Jordan."
"America, I want you to look at your next NBA superstar. He's developing right in front of your eyes."
—@WindhorstESPN on De'Aaron Fox https://t.co/v610MwtJ3v
You can see his full comments in the video above.
Mike Brown and the X-Factor to De'Aaron Fox's game
If there's one thing that De'Aaron Fox has shown throughout his career, it's that he can score. As a sophomore in the league, Fox averaged 17.3 points per game. He has averaged over 20.0 points per game in each of the four seasons since.
When Mike Brown got to Sacramento, he challenged Fox to step up defensively, and since then, the guard has answered the call. He recently reflected on Brown's challenge, as quoted by Yahoo.
“Obviously, my team wants me to do things offensively, but Mike talked about (defense) as soon as he got here,” Fox said. “He’s not worried about what I can do offensively.
"He wants to see me be better defensively and that’s something I want to take the challenge of doing. I think we’ve all seen it in spurts, but I want to be able to do it throughout the course of the game.”
With Draymond Green suspended for Game 3, De'Aaron Fox and the Kings have the opportunity to go 3-0 up if they can win on the road. Game 3 tips off at 10 p.m. EDT on Thursday night.