The Dallas Mavericks and Nico Harrison are regularly incurring the wrath of the fans. Having traded their star boy Luka Doncic without any prior warning, the fanbase felt blindsided. However, the organization made peace with the fact that consequences would follow. Harrison defended his stance and none of the team officials spoke against it. It did create some separation between the team and the fans. However, they took a route “90%” of teams wouldn’t.

ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne recently spoke about the same comparing the situation with the Kings and De’Aaron Fox. In the weeks before his trade to the Spurs, the team fired former COTY Mike Brown. Much of that blame inadvertently shifted to Fox due to Brown’s calling out for his error against the Pistons.

It created a narrative that the rapid point guard was behind his firing. But since then, Fox has spoken about it publicly. Aside from having doubts about the franchise’s future, he didn’t appreciate being the scapegoat for Brown’s firing. His critical approach was something he admired. And when it came to his extension, De’Aaron Fox bluntly told the Kings, “I don’t want another coach”.

Shelburne further emphasized this during her appearance on The Jim Jackson Show. “I wrote a story about that, I talked to De’Aaron and he kept talking to me about you know hey I really like Mike. We had a really good relationship… and yet because the way that went down and because no one has spoken publicly about why they fired Mike Brown, it stuck to him. Like fans kind of thought, well maybe De’Aaron got Mike fired. You’re close to the franchise. I’m close, like I don’t think that was the case at all,” she stated.

Many would argue that Doncic not getting a heads-up was unfair. However, Fox had to become the villain before his departure. Rather, for him, that was the last straw.

De’Aaron Fox and Mike Brown are still close

No matter how hard or rough Mike Brown may have been on Fox as a coach, the former Kings’ guard was receptive to it. From his time in Kentucky, he has had coaches that would mount the pressure on him. Such an approach helped him. And the 27-year-old considered Mike Brown to be a remarkable coach who brought a winning culture to Sacramento.

Behind the scenes, they never had any friction. “You can ask anybody in this organization: me and Mike have never even had an argument. We could disagree with something. We talked about it and it was gone,” he told Shelburne. Through mistakes and the consequent assessment from Brown, De’Aaron Fox learned how to become a better player.

There was no better coach for him in his estimation. Hence, when the franchise let him take the fall “I was done” he told Carmichael Dave in a text conversation.

To this day, Brown and Fox remain on great terms. In fact, just days after his former coach’s firing, the duo had dinner together at the Q1227. According to the chef, the dinner was “The evening was filled with love and laughter — the way we like our guest to dine at Q1227”. And although Fox may have been unsure of Sacramento’s future, the situation with Brown drove him over the edge.

From the franchise’s perspective, Ramona Shelburne does believe they acted fairly by trading Fox. H had turned down extension offers, and it didn’t seem as if his mind would change. However, there is no villain in the saga. And if there is, it certainly isn’t De’Aaron Fox.