De'Aaron Fox is still facing backlash for his NBA Finals blunders, and one former player revealed what may have caused his lackluster outings.
As the San Antonio Spurs continue to grapple with their NBA Finals loss to the New York Knicks, De'Aaron Fox has become the perfect scapegoat.
In the regular season, he was an All-Star and known as one of the more clutch players in the league. In his Finals debut, he averaged just 12.8 points on 34.3 percent shooting from the floor and had multiple fourth-quarter collapses.
After those putrid outings, it's no wonder why fans are calling for him to be traded. He's gone from veteran hero to public enemy number one in San Antonio, but there may be an underlying, valid excuse for his shortcomings.
Spurs' 'Trash' Performance on Mitch Johnson, Not Fox
In the Finals, it was very clear that Dylan Harper was the better player. The rookie posted 18 more efficient points off the bench, but never cracked the starting rotation.
That doesn't excuse Fox's poor play, but he simply should not have been on the court in crunch time.
"I think De'Aaron Fox was trash," summed up Patrick Beverley on FanDuel's Run It Back. "I think he was God-awful. And I don't think that was because of him. He was injured a little bit, I think the coach should have had him come off the bench...I didn't like him just putting him in the starting lineup, but you know, you live and you learn. That's the difference between good coaches and elite coaches. It's no disrespect to Coach Mitch, but elite coaches would have put De'Aaron Fox on the bench, let him get his rhythm."
Fox suffered two different leg injuries in the second round of the playoffs and missed the first two games of the Western Conference Finals against the OKC Thunder.
Clearly, he never got back to 100 percent, but that's on the coaching staff for keeping him on the floor through injury. Fox would never tell Johnson to take him out, it's up to the head coach to make the executive decision.
While Fox's play was horrid, and he deserves his fair share of the blame, he isn't the only one who came up short in the Finals. Plus, he played through some obvious pain. That should mean something.
