(Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/Getty Images)
This season, the NBA has announced a new individual award: the Clutch Player of the Year award, which was created in honor of Los Angeles Lakers Hall of Famer Jerry West, who was nicknamed “Mr. Clutch” for his prowess under pressure.
The finalists for the award were De’Aaron Fox of the Sacramento Kings, the Chicago Bulls’ DeMar DeRozan, and Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler.
In the end, it was announced on Tuesday that the award was going to Fox.
The 2022-23 #KiaClutch is… De’Aaron Fox! #NBAAwards pic.twitter.com/bwmrAk9PA1
— NBA (@NBA) April 18, 2023
Fox, who was the No. 5 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, quickly became a good player upon entering the league, but this season, he has seemingly taken things to a higher level.
He averaged 25.0 points and 6.1 assists per game while shooting a career-high 51.2 percent from the field and earning his first trip to the NBA All-Star Game.
But the greatest affirmation of Fox’s ascension was the fact that the Kings, contrary to most people’s expectations, finished third in the Western Conference and reached the playoffs for the first time since 2006.
In the first round of the playoffs, they’re facing the Golden State Warriors, a team that has won four championships in the last nine seasons.
Yet Fox scored 38 points in Sacramento’s 126-123 Game 1 win, and he followed it up with 24 points and nine assists in Monday’s 114-106 Game 2 victory.
In both games, Fox scored in double digits in the fourth quarter, and the Warriors seemingly had no answer for him down the stretch as both games were being decided.
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