De’Aaron Fox named Western Conference Player of the Week

De’Aaron Fox’s return to action from an ankle sprain has helped catalyze a six game winning streak for the Kings and his effort hasn’t gone unrewarded.  Today the NBA announced that Fox has won the Western Conference Player of the Week for Week 4.  Fox averaged 32.3 points, 6.3 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 2.3 steals, but more importantly helped lead Sacramento to a 4-0 week.  New York’s Jalen Brunson won Player of the Week for the Eastern Conference.

This is the fourth time De’Aaron has won the Player of the Week award and probably won’t be the last.  De’Aaron has been putting up MVP type numbers so far this season.  His 31.9 point average is tied with reigning MVP Joel Embiid’s average to lead the league. He is also shooting a career-best 41.7% from three on 8.6 attempts a game. in Friday’s In-Season Tournament game against the San Antonio Spurs, he scored a season-high 43 points, just one point shy of tying his career-high.  Fox is playing at perhaps his highest level yet and that includes the defensive side of the floor where he’s emerged as a leader.

Fox wasn’t the only King nominated for the award, as his running mate Domantas Sabonis also got some votes and would have been a deserving winner in his own right.  Sabonis averaged 27.8 points, 13 rebounds, 7.5 assists and a block in those same games and did it while shooting an absolutely ridiculous 75.4% from the field.

These awards are nice, but the best part is that this individual success is also coming with team success.  The Kings are 8-4 after a 2-4 start and are currently leading the Pacific Division and are 4th in the Western Conference.  The team is getting its offense back on track and the defense has jumped substantially (currently ranked 14th in the league).  If the Kings can keep this up, the sky’s the limit.

Congrats De’Aaron! Let’s celebrate with another win tonight in New Orleans.