‘I’m not going to play for another coach’: De’Aaron Fox’s time with the Kings ended with Mike Brown’s

DOWN A HALLWAY adjacent to the San Antonio Spurs‘ locker room at Frost Bank Center, De’aaron fox pumped iron alone, long after all his new teammates had gone home for the night.

As midnight approached, Fox needed one more figurative lift. This would involve finally pushing off his shoulders the weight of the former world he once ruled with the Sacramento Kings during the reign he never wanted to end.

“I truly wanted to play for one team my whole career,” Fox told ESPN. “I really did.”

Fox returns to play in Sacramento on Friday, the first time since the franchise traded him Feb. 3 to the Spurs as part of a three-team deal involving multiple players and draft picks. The 27-year old landed exactly where he had hoped, playing on a squad headlined by generational superstar Victor Wembanyama and first-ballot Hall of Famer Chris Paulflanked by a slew of prospects poised for a bright future in San Antonio.

Fox insists he “never asked for a trade,” from the franchise that drafted him fifth in 2017.

“I loved it,” he 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.”

Then, almost suddenly, it wasn’t.

Sacramento stumbled to a 13-18 start this season, leading the brass to fire coach Mike Brown less than halfway through his third year leading the Kings and less than seven months after the franchise rewarded him with a lucrative multiyear extension over the summer — one that Fox had lobbied for.

Fox, who was set in 2025-26 to enter the final year of his five-year contract, had warned the organization this summer that he was tiring of all the turnover at the head coaching position and declined to sign an extension during the offseason. So when the Kings fired Brown, Fox felt that his time in Sacramento had come to an end, too.

“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 told ESPN. “And I told them, ‘I’m not going to play for another coach. I’m going to play for another team.'”

APPROXIMATELY A WEEK before Brown agreed to a contract extension through the 2026-27 season that included a raise to $8.5 million for 2024-25, the coach and the organization had tabled negotiations because the sides remained at odds on terms of the potential deal.

With Fox earning his first All-Star nod in 2022-23, in addition to winning the inaugural Clutch Player of the Year Award and earning recognition on the All-NBA third team, Brown had led Sacramento to the Western Conference playoffs for the first time in 18 years on the way to seizing his second NBA Coach of the Year award. The Kings entered that postseason as the No. 3 seed and fell in the opening round to the Golden State Warriors in seven games.

Last season, the ninth-seeded Kings lost to the New Orleans Pelicans in the play-in tournament.

Still, Fox urged Sacramento to sign the coach to an extension, despite some teammates wanting Brown fired. Since the Kings drafted Fox in 2017, Fox had played under Dave Joerger, Luke Walton, Alvin Gentry and Brown. Joerger’s three seasons were the most of any Kings coach Fox played for in his 7½ seasons, while Brown ranks fourth all time in win percentage (.549) among head coaches to coach 50-plus games for the Kings.

“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].”

Brown signed his new deal, but the Kings started this season with losses to the Los Angeles Lakers and the Minnesota Timberwolves. Then, they dropped eight of 12 games leading into Brown’s Dec. 27 firing 31 games into the season. At the time of Brown’s termination, the Kings had lost an NBA-worst nine contests after leading in the fourth quarter and were reeling from a five-game skid.

Sacramento clung to a 10-point lead the night before Brown’s ouster with fewer than three minutes remaining. Fouled by Fox, Jaden Ivey converted a four-point play with 3 ticks left by drilling a 3-pointer in the right corner and subsequent free throw to give the Detroit Pistons a 114-113 win.

In the aftermath, Brown criticized Fox publicly for the game-deciding gaffe, but the point guard didn’t take it personally. Fox appreciated the tough love from his coach.

With one of Brown’s final acts being the public criticism of Fox, it seemed from the outside that Fox had called for the coach’s firing. Fox, who says he still talks to Brown every week, even had to dispel rumors about tension with his former coach among the Spurs’ staffers upon arriving in San Antonio. What bothered Fox most is that although Sacramento released a statement addressing Brown’s firing, the organization didn’t discuss the move publicly with reporters until 40 days later, after the guard had already been traded.

“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.”

Coaches around the league widely criticized Brown’s dismissal. Denver‘s Michael Malone, a former head coach in Sacramento, said the organization had “no class, no balls.” Steve Kerr of Golden State, where Brown served six seasons as an assistant, said, “when you think about where that franchise was before Mike got there, [it’s] really shocking.”

The night after Brown was fired, several Kings players expressed their respect for their former head coach.

“In the interest of me and my career, he put me in a situation to succeed and gave me a lot of confidence,” center Domantas Sabonis said. “He’s helped me form my career in the NBA. It’s just part of the business. Things happen that way. I had no idea. I was sleeping when this happened. I got woken up by the news.”

Guard Malik Monk expressed an appreciation for Brown’s “energy, the passion he had for the game.”

Fox, meanwhile, never spoke to the organization about Brown’s firing, he said, because he had already expressed his opinion over the summer, and nothing had changed. Fox figured he would play out his contract and sign elsewhere once the time came.

“The energy shifted and what’s understood doesn’t need to be explained,” he said. “If I finished my contract there, then they knew what was going to happen next and it was because y’all fired another coach. That’s why I said in the interview after Mike was fired and we were in L.A. [on Dec. 28]they knew where I stood and there was nothing more to be said.”

THE KINGS APPROACHED Fox’s agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports Group, the night of Jan. 27, after the guard racked up 30 points and 7 assists in a 110-96 road victory in Brooklyn. The Kings explained to Paul they would be listening to potential trade offers from teams inquiring about the guard.

Naturally, Paul informed his client. The next day, in Philadelphia, ahead of a 117-104 loss, the Kings sought out Fox in his hotel room to tell him what they had told Paul the night before.

“We’re sitting there trying to have the conversation, but I know what he’s about to tell me because Rich had already told me,” said Fox, who didn’t reveal which member of the organization he spoke with. “A reporter calls trying to break the story, but mind you, our GM hasn’t told me yet. So, it had already been told, even before I was told by our team.”

A source within the Kings organization said the combination of Fox declining “a couple of extension” offers, Fox’s public comments and private conversations between the club and the player led to Sacramento deciding it needed to move him ahead of the trade deadline. The organization still holds Fox in high regard for all of his contributions to the franchise and the city, the source said.

Fox relayed to the Kings that San Antonio was his preferred destination due to the Spurs’ youth and athleticism, not to mention the idea of pairing with budding superstar Wembanyama. Fox remembered Brown — a former San Antonio assistant — routinely telling him that to win in the postseason, “you have to be able to play defense.” With Wembanyama on the floor, San Antonio certainly seemed capable.

Once Paul informed Sacramento of Fox’s desire to join the Spurs, reports surfaced of the guard telling the club he had a list of preferred teams.

“There was no f—ing list,” Fox said. “There was one team. I wanted to go to San Antonio. So, a lot of people are mad at me, saying I handcuffed the team by giving them a destination. Well, this is my career. If anybody else is in my position, you’d do the same thing. It’s not my job to help build your team. I’m not about to just go where they want me to go. I wanted to have a destination.”

Fox got his wish when San Antonio announced his acquisition Feb. 3, the day his son, Reign, turned 2. Fox wouldn’t debut for San Antonio until two days later in Atlanta. He became the first player in franchise history to tally at least 20 points and 10 assists in his Spurs debut. He scored or assisted on 56 points in a 126-125 win.

With 2.9 seconds left and the score tied at 125 that night, Chris Paul tossed an inbounds pass to Fox, and the Spurs executed a high pick-and-roll. As Wembanyama rolled to the rack, De’ other hunter ran over to double-team Fox with Dyson Daniels. Fox lofted a pass to Wembanyama as the defenders closed in.

A package fouled Wembanyama as he attempted a two-handed dunk, paving the way for the French phenom to knock down the game-winning free throw.

“He’s been an elite player for a while,” San Antonio acting coach Mitch Johnson said of Fox, moments after the guard’s Spurs debut in Atlanta. “He’s dynamic. He’s going to unlock a whole different element for our team. The goal of any offense, no matter how you slice it, is trying to gain an advantage when you have someone that can gain that advantage just with the basketball in their hands. He’s one of the players in the league that can do that.”

FOX SAID THAT the only real demand he ever made in Sacramento was for the Kings to acquire dynamic wing players (such as Brooklyn’s Cameron Johnson). Fox believes that most championship teams are anchored by top-tier wings like Giannis antetokounmpo in Milwaukee and Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum in Boston.

“That’s all I ever asked for,” he said. “I told Keegan Murrayand I don’t know how many people would agree with me. But I’m like, ‘Yo, the best teams in the league outside of Steph[Curry[Curry[Curry[Curry and the Golden State Warriors], their best player is usually a wing. Wings win in this league.”

Wembanyama possesses the versatility to fulfill such a role. But San Antonio already bursts at the seams with promising wings such as Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell and Jeremy sochan — all aged 24 or younger. Fox admits Wembanyama is “why I wanted to come here” due to the 7-footer’s versatility on both ends of the floor.

“He’s so unique,” Fox said. “Guys dribble to the lane, see him, [and] they’re like, ‘Yeah, I’m not going up.’ I’ve never played with anything like that before. One, he’s a lob threat. He’s a guy that also picks and pops. He’s also continuing to learn the game.”

The Spurs shut down Wembanyama on Feb. 20 due to deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder. So, Fox played alongside the 21-year old Frenchman in just five games, providing scant evidence of what the duo could be in the coming years.

With Fox and Wembanyama sharing the court for 120 minutes in their brief time together, San Antonio logged a net efficiency of minus-2.4. The duo executed 46 on-ball screens together with Fox as the ball handler and Wembanyama the screener. Those plays averaged just 0.77 points per direct pick.

Inefficient, to say the least. Fox logged just 10 assists to Wembanyama in five games together. In half-court sets, Fox passed to Wembanyama on 31 occasions while the Frenchman tossed the ball Fox’s way 24 times, according to Second Spectrum data.

“Playing with a superstar is not easy because obviously, one, they demand the ball,” Fox said. “Two, they demand so much attention. It’s like playing with Steph. Everybody can’t play with Steph because you always have to look for him. But at the end of the day, that motherf—er can win championships, and I think Vic can win championships. So, you obviously want to continue to play your game. But you learn how to play off someone like that. And he by himself can make a group extremely special.”

Fox can, too. Paul knows as much from playing against him all these years.

In the waning moments of a nail-biter in Memphis on March 1, Paul screamed from the bench as the action unfolded on the floor and the crowd grew raucous.

“Fox! Fox!” Paul yelled, standing near the scorer’s table. “Go get the ball!”

Fox cut across the court to take possession from Castle.

With 10.7 seconds left and rookie Jaylen Wells standing in front of Fox as the primary defender, Scotty Pippen Jr. ran over to double-team the new Spurs guard. Fox quickly passed to Vassell, who tossed it back with 8.3 seconds remaining.

“I’ve played against him,” Paul said. “I’ve guarded Fox. I know what it’s like. I’ll live and die with whatever shot he shoots.”

As Pippen approached again to form another double-team alongside Wells, Fox turned on the jets and sprinted to the paint before hitting the breaks and watching Wells fly by. As Saints ALDAMA slid over to defend, Fox rose for a fadeaway that swished through the cylinder with 1.8 seconds remaining.

The Spurs won 130-128 in closing its monthlong rodeo road trip.

Prior to joining San Antonio on that trip, Fox had been on the road nearly two weeks with his former team. Two days after the win in Memphis, Fox and his family officially completed their move to San Antonio.

“No matter how I’m playing, the last shot just always goes in for some reason,” he said. “You save the best for last, I guess.”