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In the aftermath of the Sacramento Kings’ 127-109 win over the visiting San Antonio Spurs on March 8, Kings star Malik Monk could be seen in what looks like an argument with former Kings teammate De’Aaron Fox’s wife, Recee. Fox, who spent the first seven-plus years of his career with the Kings after being drafted seventh overall in 2017 by the once dormant franchise. In fact, Fox was considered their franchise player, until his trade in February.
In a move that stunned the Kings faithful, Fox was dealt to the Spurs on Feb. 3 after refusing to sign a contract extension prior to this season. The surprise firing of head coach Mike Brown, who won NBA Coach of the Year honors twice (2009 and 2023) in late December, was the final straw for Fox. Instead of keeping an unhappy player, the Kings moved on from him, and to the surprise of many his teammates didn’t seem too fazed by it. That includes his college teammate at Kentucky, Monk, whose comments about the move were sort of nonchalant.
Monk Keeps It Blunt, Fox’s Wife Approaches After Game
Following Fox’s departure in February, Monk responded to reporters asking for his take on his former teammate’s exit.
“It was crazy because he was one of the reasons I came here for sure,” Monk said. “But yeah we’ve got to move on. I know it’s a business. By the looks of it, they say he wanted to be out of here, so he got what he wanted.”
While, we can only speculate what was being said in the now viral-interaction between Monk and Recee, but Monk’s seemingly unfazed comments could’ve been a starting point.
Fox Wanted Out And Definitely Got His Wish
The firing of Mike Brown was something that Fox wasn’t in favor of, and with only one year remaining on his contract the dynamic guard decided it’d be best for him to start fresh somewhere else. He told ESPN this prior to his return to the court he called home for the first seven-plus seasons of his career.
“I truly wanted to play for one team my whole career,” Fox told ESPN. “I really did.”
“I loved it,” he said of Sacramento. “Everybody bled purple. It was always great just going to the grocery store, going out to a restaurant. Everybody there was extremely kind. And when we started winning, then it was ‘light the beam’ everywhere. You really felt it around the city. So, it was definitely a great place to be for as long as I was.”
“I was like, ‘Yo, I’ve been here for going on my eighth year. If Mike gets fired, I’ll be going on my fifth coach,’” Fox continued. “And I told them, ‘I’m not going to play for another coach. I’m going to play for another team.’”
Fox also implied that he never asked for a trade and there was no list, it was always the San Antonio Spurs if he ever left Sacramento. Not surprising for Fox who grew up in Katy, Texas, and played high school ball at Cypress Lakes High School, which is approximately 2.5 hours from the Alamo.
