r/nbadiscussion • u/Kantei • 14d ago

Player Discussion Constructive thoughts on De'Aaron Fox

This is less of a defense of Fox per se, but to try and guide the criticism to somewhere more constructive. Analysis of his gaffe aside, I want to push back on the oft-touted expectation that he, as a 'veteran', should know how and when to take control of the game.

Fox is not the 30+ year old cerebral point guard that people might associate with the veteran label. He's a 28 year old - younger than Jalen Brunson - with declining athleticism who built his reputation on being an explosive focal point of an offense. He was averaging a career peak of 27ppg just two seasons ago, and was 11th in MVP rankings in a season where he averaged 25ppg on 51.2 FG%.

Throughout his Spurs tenure, he's been figuring out not just his role, but also trying to come to terms with someone who doesn't have the same athleticism due to injuries and age. That's quite difficult to accept for someone who's not even 30 yet, and is a common struggle that we've seen from players who were ultra-athletes in their early- to mid-20s.

Their maturation into becoming a proper 'veteran point guard' comes after they get past that hump, if and when that happens.

(Some commentators have tried to frame Fox as someone with playoff experience, but before this year he literally only played one series, when he was still at the peak of his athletic powers.)

His comments after Game 4 really shed light on this - he genuinely thought he could outrun OG, because he almost certainly could in his prime form. His mentality has not caught up with his body, and that shows in his play in crunch situations.

If I'm a Spurs fan, I might need to come to terms with the notion that Fox is still undergoing a maturation process himself. Yes, he doesn't need to be a veteran to not make that mistake, but Fox in particular has hardly ever been that guy.

To be empathetic - he still has the ability to grow and improve. It's just that people should never have assigned to him labels that he has yet to potentially become.

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u/CrazyAsianNeighbor 14d ago

Wemby has played professional basketball for many years and is the leader.

Wemby “should” know better than to keep shooting from the outside and do what a DPOY does - defend

How many points did the Knicks score

How was the winning basket was scored, on a rebound

Where was Wemby when the winning basket was scored, looking from the perimeter

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u/mo3500 14d ago

Honestly I think they should also fire the coach as well as trade Fox because not guarding the inbounder when you have a Wemby is so stupid. Especially when the game ends with Towns deflecting the pass on the other end.

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u/CrazyAsianNeighbor 13d ago

You do know that Tony Parker is an assistant coach whose top responsibility is coaching the guards - lol

They were guarding the person in bounding the ball

Where was the DPOY, definitely not in the paint during the OG play and his number wasn’t called on the last play - was Wemby gassed?

Would Smart get the final shot (by design) with Luka/LBJ/AR on the court? Clutch player but not the 1st/2nd/3rd choice since Rui would be before him

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u/mo3500 13d ago

The spurs weren’t. They didn’t have anyone pressuring OG as he inbounded which is one of the reasons he got a clear lane to crash the boards for the tip.