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The Sacramento Kings guard becomes a two-way NBA star



De'Aaron Fox names his focus for the 2024 offseason

Sacramento Kings point guard De'Aaron Fox is known for his speed and scoring ability, but has quietly developed into a defensive player over the course of his eight-year NBA career.

Fox passed Shai Gilgeous-Alexander late last season to lead the league with 2.0 steals per game, but his defensive improvements went largely unrecognized. De'Aaron was left off the All-Defensive teams despite leading the association in takeaways.

So far this season he is back to par on the defensive side of the ball.

The deflections and steals are nothing new for Fox, but his on-ball defense was amazing early in the season.

The opponents he guards are shooting 36 percent from the field and 29.2 percent from distance, a drastic decrease from 49.5 and 39.7 percent compared to last season.

It looks like things are working out for Fox on defense. He has learned to use his speed to stay in front of defenders using his chest and 6-foot wingspan to not only cause havoc in the passing lanes but also block shots.

We're at the point where we can stop talking about even a small sample size in the season. With 125 field goals and 65 three-point attempts blocked, it's a solid sample eight games into the season.

When you combine the defensive numbers with Fox's 23.8 points, 5.1 assists and 4.8 rebounds, you get one of the most versatile games in the league. The Kings ask a lot of their All-Star guard, and he delivers on both ends of the court.

The list of elite two-way players in the NBA is short. If Fox can maintain his high level of play for the rest of the season, he should firmly cement his reputation as one of the NBA's best two-way stars.

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