Sacramento Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox takes the FIRST-EVER NBA Clutch Player of the Year award
Sacramento Kings star point guard De’Aaron Fox collects FIRST NBA Clutch Player of the Year award after leading the way with 194 points
- De’Aaron Fox defeated Jimmy Butler and Demar DeRozan to win the award
- He led the NBA with 194 points in the clutch, while the next closest was a total of 159
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Sacramento Kings star point guard De’Aaron Fox has been named the winner of the first-ever NBA clutch player of the year award.
Fox was announced Tuesday night as the inaugural winner of the NBA player of the year award, selected by a panel of 100 writers and broadcasters covering the league.
Fox became Sacramento’s first individual winner of a major award since Tyreke Evans edged out Stephen Curry for rookie of the year in 2010.
The Kings almost certainly won’t wait 13 years for their next one — it will probably be more than 24 hours, with Mike Brown expected to be announced as the Coach of the Year when the NBA announces those results on Wednesday.
The vote was a runaway; Fox, who led the league with 194 clutch points, received 91 of a possible 100 votes for first place. DeMar DeRozan of Chicago and Jimmy Butler of Miami were the other finalists.
De’Aaron Fox won the NBA’s first-ever Clutch Player of the Year award for the 2022-23 season
Fox led the NBA with 194 total points in clutch situations over the series of games
DeRozan was second in the NBA this season with 159 clutch points and Butler was third with 151.
Fox led the league in clutch games this season with 194 points in 39 such games; tie games are defined as those where the margin between teams is five points or less at any point in the final 5:00. He shot even better off the field at those times (53%) than at all other times (51%).
He becomes the first recipient of The Jerry West Award; it is named after the player nicknamed ‘Mr. Clutch’ during his career.
The NBA announced in December that it would add the link fee; like most other awards, it is voted on by the media panel, but unlike other awards, the field is first narrowed by polls of NBA coaches.
Fox made one of many great contributions to a resurgence in Sacramento this season.
The Kings – who currently lead defending champion Golden State 2-0 in a Western Conference first round series – reached the postseason for the first time in 17 years.
Fox averaged a team-best 31 points to date in those two playoff games. And at 48-34, this was Sacramento’s best regular season since going 50-32 in 2004-05.
The award was the second major individual announced by the league this season.
Years Jackson Jr. van Memphis was named defensive player of the year on Monday. Coach of the Year (Brown, Mark Daigneault from Oklahoma City or Joe Mazzulla from Boston) will be announced Wednesday and sixth Man of the Year (Malcolm Brogdon from Boston, Bobby Portis Jr. from Milwaukee or Immanuel from New York). Quickley) will be revealed on Thursday.
The rest of the schedule for announcing other league awards, including MVP, Most Improved Player, and Rookie of the Year, has not yet been announced.
Fox, left, appears to pass the ball after driving past Denver Nuggets center DeAndre Jordan