
This upcoming Kings season should be an interesting one.
Perhaps there will be more pressure coming off a campaign in which nobody expected much, and the Kings succeeded, going 39-43 and just missing the NBA playoffs. Now the world will expect something. But De'Aaron Fox isn't letting that get to him.
“I think it’s a little bit different because last year there weren’t many expectations, so we were winning games and it was surprising people,” the Kings guard recently told The Athletic's Jason Jones. “Now with the way our roster is filled out, we kind of got the things that we needed, and if we come out guns blazing the way we did last year, I don’t think it will be as surprising. Of course, the West got stronger, but we have expectations.”
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The Kings finished ninth in the Western Conference last season and posted their most wins since 2005-06 — the last time they made the playoffs. They also made basketball fun to watch in a city that needed it.
But things will be different now, between the mentality, the roster and the new coaching staff.
Fox didn't waste any time bonding with his new coach, Luke Walton. It was a relationship Fox wanted to get started right away.
“He’s been great,” Fox said. “Worked out with him a few times before we left for the summer and just a great guy. He calls my phone frequently. Being able to talk to him and get to know him, and not just as a player but as a person. They’ve definitely been great conversations.”
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“I told [Walton] I’d be back in Sac kind of early,” Fox added. “I just want to be able to develop that relationship with him, that chemistry. Just so that we can hit the ground running when training camp starts and we don’t start behind.”
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Fox also is preparing for FIBA World Cup in China, and he’s more than ready for fans to watch him Aug. 5-8 in Las Vegas as part of the Team USA Select Team when they practice against players on the US National Team.