De’Aaron Fox Won The NBA’s Inaugural Clutch Player Of The Year Award

De’Aaron Fox has turned himself into a crunch time killer for the upstart Sacramento Kings, and as a result, his efforts late in games are being recognized by the league. As part of the NBA’s rollout of its end of season awards this week, it was announced on TNT on Tuesday evening that Fox has won the inaugural Clutch Player of the Year award.

While there are a myriad of reasons why Sacramento broke its 17-year playoff drought and finished with the 3-seed in the Western Conference, the play of Fox in tense moments late in games was a major reason why. Fox took his game to another level this season, which saw him earn the first All-Star nod of his young career thanks in large part to his fearlessness down the stretch of close games. This has continued through the first two games of the postseason, where Fox has been a menace in the fourth quarter against the Golden State Warriors.

On the year, Fox averaged 25 points on 51.2 percent shooting from the field with 6.1 assists, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.1 steals in 33.4 minutes a night. Fox beat out two other finalists for the honor: Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler and Chicago Bulls ace DeMar DeRozan.

The NBA announced that this would join its collection of awards prior to the 2022-23 season. Fox joins Jaren Jackson Jr. of the Memphis Grizzlies as award winners this year — Jackson was named Defensive Player of the Year on Monday — while the Coach of the Year and Sixth Man awards will be announced on TNT later this week.