When De'Aaron Fox forced his way to the San Antonio Spurs, he knew he was joining a special team, but making the NBA Finals in his first season came as a bit of a surprise.
When Victor Wembanyama first entered the NBA and immediately proved that he was, in fact, a generational talent, one thought swept through the entire league:
"I wanna play with that guy!"
In the coming seasons, superstars like Kevin Durant, Trae Young, Donovan Mitchell, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and even LeBron James were linked to the Spurs, with San Antonio listed as a preferred landing spot for pretty much every player included in rumors.
Last season, the Spurs made their splash, adding De'Aaron Fox from the Sacramento Kings. Fox saw the writing on the wall in Sacramento and realized that their 2023 "Beam Team" playoff run was a fluke and wanted to play for a winning team. In 2024, he asked for a trade, and in February of 2025, he went to the only team on his list.
Now, he's heading to the Finals.
Fox Realizes Spurs Are Ahead of Schedule
Last season, Chris Paul ran point for the Spurs, and Fox had to slot in as a secondary creator. This season, he shared playmaking duties with Stephon Castle.
Rather than demand a larger role like some veteran superstars might on a young team, Fox played a complementary role to the Spurs' young stars, providing a boost when needed, but perfectly happy to be more support than superstar.
According to him, he wouldn't have it any other way.
"I'm grateful to be in this position," Fox said after the Spurs clinched their Finals appearance. "I was grateful to be there, and obviously continue to learn, continue to grow my game, continue to get better. And then coming here my first full year, being able to be in the Finals, I don't know if I thought that, but I knew that we were gonna have a [redacted] good team. And we continue to get better just throughout the course of the season. While we were winning games, we were getting better every step of the way."
Even though Fox thought making the Finals was a long shot, now he has more confidence than anyone.
"Why not picture us holding the trophy at the end?" he asked.
Between Victor Wembanyama emerging as the best player in the world, Fox playing at an All-Star level, and Castle, Dylan Harper, Devin Vassell, and Julian Champagnie all excellent in their roles, the more optimistic fans were certain that the team could make a run, even with limited experience.
It turns out they were right all along.
