De’Aaron Fox isn’t your typical former college star-turned-NBA star. Mainly because unlike almost any other NCAA legend who went on to the NBA, he doesn’t care about college basketball, much less the NCAA tournament. He’s not at the Kentucky games, decked out in blue sitting behind his former coach John Calipari.
The Sacramento Kings superstar, echo is averaging 25.3 points per game and 6.1 assists while shooting a sizzling 51.6 percent from the field, went on to say as much in a postgame presser when asked about what he thought about what was going on in the current NCAA March Madness tournament.
De’Aaron Fox Disses College Hoops
Larry Brown Sports quotes the point guard as saying “I can’t watch a full college game. “It’s hard. Just the shot-making is obviously not at the pro level. The refs are bad. A lot of the coaching is really bad … I can’t stand it.”
The NCAA Tournament is wildly popular fixture of the sports world. It isn’t even just a basketball tournament but a part of pop culture now as many basketball players and schools have solidified themselves as legendary just purely off of what they’ve done in the March Madness tournaments.
This is, of course, Fox’s own personal opinion about the NCAA Tournament, especially because many NCAA and basketball fans alike might argue that the NCAA basketball tournament is more popular, entertaining, and even more competitive than the NBA is.
What’s interesting about this is whether Fox may have felt this way about himself back when he was the star point guard for Kentucky in 2016. Kentucky’s run then was epic as well, though they couldn’t seal the deal, losing in the elite eight to UNC, who eventually went on to win the tournament.
A lot of people like the NCAA because of its history. You could look at some of these rosters and see players who were stars in college but couldn’t pan out in the NBA. Or watch a questionable prospect elevate into the first round because of clutch performances in The Big Dance.
Looking at Kentucky’s team in the 2016-17 season, they were absolutely stacked with NBA players like Malik Monk, Fox, Bam Adebayo, and Isaiah Briscoe, who all averaged double-digit points that season for Kentucky.
De’Aaron Fox vs. Lonzo Ball In 2016-17 NCAA Tourney
De’Aaron Fox’s epic March Madness battle with Lonzo Ball and UCLA is one of the most memorable moments in recent history and lives in the hearts of a lot of fans. Especially Gen Y and Gen Z sports fans.
With moments like that, how could you not love NCAA basketball?
Fox’s perspective is very different because he’s an NBA player and a really good one at that. How the competition is for him now might’ve been very different back in college, because he’s facing people who are extremely taller and are also more experienced. Besides, it’s easier for a superb scorer to get off in the NBA. There are more games, players utilize load management, whether it be the best players taking nights off just to rest or simply just not going all out for 82 games.
College hoops is more of a dog fight. Maybe Fox was taking a direct swipe at how the game is played today and the level of talent, because guys of his skill level aren’t even going to college to play anymore with G-League and other paid opportunities.
College Basketball Unexciting To Fox
From Fox’s perspective, watching the shots that are being taken and the plays being called doesn’t excite him like the pros do, which is why he probably feels like he can’t get into it. Also the NBA is full of way more skilled players and competitors who can do insane things that only a select few college-level players could execute at the NCAA level.
To him, it’s simply just not entertaining, and he can’t even stomach a full game of the NCAA.
I guess it’s safe to say he won’t be coaching at the college level when his pro days are over.
