De’Aaron Fox responds to claims about his role in Mike Brown firing

Mar 7, 2022; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox (5) warms up before the game against the New York Knicks at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox responded Monday amid ongoing rumors that he helped force the team’s firing of head coach Mike Brown.

Fox has been cast as a culprit in Brown’s controversial firing in a number of reports, with some suggesting the star guard and Brown did not see eye-to-eye. The latest came from former NBA guard Lou Williams, who said in an appearance on FanDuel’s “Run It Back” that he heard there was “pushback” after Brown supposedly singled Fox out publicly and privately. That supposedly left the Kings in a position where they had to choose between siding with Brown or star players like Fox.

Mike Brown reportedly asked DeMar DeRozan to come off the bench 👀

(Via @RunItBackFDTV ) pic.twitter.com/2wvTI0hNc7

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) December 30, 2024

Fox responded on X, denying that there had been pushback behind the scenes and disputing that he ever went to management about Brown.

“There was never any push back about anything. This narrative of us butting heads or me going to management saying anything is bulls–t. So you can run with that if you want to,” Fox wrote on X (profanity censored by LBS).

Much of the controversy around the Brown firing has come from the way the Kings handled it. Fox presumably had nothing to do with that, even if he and Brown were sometimes at odds.

Fox is averaging a career-high 26.3 points per game this year, so his stats did not suffer under Brown’s guidance. Unfortunately for him, he is being cast as the villain among many who believe the coach got a raw deal.