Fox quickly proved that leaving Sacramento was the right decision

I'm sure he's thrilled with his decision to leave California and head south.
Dec 25, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; San Antonio Spurs guard De'Aaron Fox (4) celebrates after a play against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
Dec 25, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; San Antonio Spurs guard De'Aaron Fox (4) celebrates after a play against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

De'Aaron Fox is getting everything he deserves in San Antonio, and it's all come together so quickly. He signed a max deal this summer, plays on the second seed in the Western Conference in the first year of many as a title contender, earned an All-Star spot, and, last but not least, gets to eat breakfast tacos whenever he wants. Sacramento couldn't offer any of those things (especially not the tacos).

Swipa spent eight years trying to elevate a sunken franchise to a place it hasn't often seen: relevancy. The lack of success was no fault of his own, though. There are so many more factors to winning than putting together a competent roster.

The organizational structure matters. The people running things in the background have a daily impact we don't see. If everyone isn't buttoned up, everything falls. Fortunately for Fox, San Antonio is strong in all of the areas that matter, so all he has to do is hoop, and he's been killing it on that front.

Fox has found the perfect home in San Antonio

The Spurs are built on structure. They just had one of the most devastating developments possible happen when, suddenly, they were without their legendary coach because of a scary health incident. I don't know if we've ever mentioned how well they all handled it and how smooth the transition from Coach Pop to Mitch Johnson was.

Everything was handled with Gregg Popovich in mind first, but business had to go on, and they handled it without crumbling from the weight of it all.

Fox can be proud to play in a place like that. Sacramento doesn't have that kind of stability. He had four coaches during his time there, and they were on the verge of a fifth. It's hard to win in an environment like that, especially considering the firing of Mike Brown was, reportedly, against his wishes.

With all that going on, his agent, Rich Paul, said he still had to convince him. Swipa built a connection to that community, and it was probably a little difficult to say goodbye. Clearly, he was right to do so.

He fits the Spurs' culture of selflessness and team-first perfectly. He's only averaging 19 points per game this season because that's all they need from him right now. However, as that tweet above illustrated—similar to what he showed against Golden State—Fox can and will step up when called upon.

So, just one year after being traded, he's got his money, all the pressure of the offense isn't on him, he's winning with a classy organization, and, again, those breakfast tacos, man. What else could he ask for?

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