Ever since the Sacramento Kings fired head coach Mike Brown, it seemed to have a domino effect, leading to the franchise changing course. After the move was made at the end of last year, a few months later, the Kings traded star De’Aaron Fox to the San Antonio Spurs, ending an era as the guard spoke on the ultimatum that was proposed before the deal.
There seemed no intention from Fox to leave Sacramento as he said that he “never asked for a trade” from the team that he’s been with since 2017. However, Fox was getting tired with all the turnover, new coaches, and stood his ground to the franchise by saying that he doesn’t want to play for another coach according to 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 said. “And I told them, ‘I’m not going to play for another coach. I’m going to play for another team.’”
As the team fired Brown, it pretty much marked Fox’s end as well, though he had no intention of leaving Sacramento as he was entirely grateful for what the city and team had given him.
“I loved it,” Fox said of Sacramento. “Everybody bled purple. It was always great just going to the grocery store, going out to a restaurant. Everybody there was extremely kind. And when we started winning, then it was ‘light the beam’ everywhere. You really felt it around the city. So, it was definitely a great place to be for as long as I was.”
“I truly wanted to play for one team my whole career,” Fox continued. “I really did.”
De’Aaron Fox on the Kings locker room on Mike Brown
While there were some rumors of heat between the former Kings star in Fox and Brown, the former would leave the team due to the coach’s firing, which could be seen as a shock to some. However, he would reveal that some teammates in the locker room wanted Brown gone during last summer.
“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].”
When Brown was fired, a lot of people attributed the move to Fox as his request to the team since the head coach had publicly critiqued the star a short time before. However, Sacramento wouldn’t talk to reporters about the move until after Fox was traded, which the star saw somewhat as a transgression since people blamed Fox for Brown’s firing.
“You fire the coach, and you don’t do an interview?” Fox said. “So, all the blame was on me. Did it weigh on me? No. I don’t give a f—. But the fact y’all are supposed to be protecting your player and y’all let that happen. … I felt at the time the organization didn’t have my back.”
At any rate, the Fox and Brown era is finished with the Kings as they are 32-29, which puts them ninth in the Western Conference. Funny enough, the Kings host the San Antonio Spurs Friday night in the return of Fox as no doubt fans will be watching with interest.
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