Breaking: Domantas Sabonis, De'Aaron Fox named to All-NBA third team

Sabonis and Fox continue Kings run of league honors

The spotlight on the Sacramento Kings continued Wednesday when the NBA announced its All-NBA roster for the 2022-23 season. Not one, but two Kings made the list of the top 15 players in the league.

Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox were both named to the All-NBA third team. This is the first All-NBA selection for both players and the first All-NBA selection for Sacramento since DeMarcus Cousins earned second team recognition in both the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.

Sabonis finished third amongst centers behind 2023 NBA MVP Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic, who won the previous two MVP awards. His 147 voting points, included 26 (3 points) second team votes and another 69 (1 point) third team votes.

The three-time All-Star turned 27 on May 3. He averaged 19.1 points, 7.3 assists and a league leading 12.3 rebounds per game for the Kings this season, leading the franchise to a 48-34 record, a Pacific Division crown and a third place finish in the Western Conference standings.

Fox, who earned his first All-Star nod this season, finished right behind Sabonis in the balloting with 144 voting points. The 25-year-old point guard received one first team vote, 33 second team votes and 40 third team votes.

After toiling in obscurity for five seasons in Sacramento, Fox had a breakout campaign in year six playing alongside Sabonis in the Kings’ starting lineup. He averaged 25 points, 6.1 assists and 4.2 rebounds while shooting a career-best 51.2 percent from the field.

Fox finished in fifth place amongst all NBA guards in voting, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic earning the top two spots, followed by Donovan Mitchell and Stephen Curry coming in third and fourth respectively.

The Kings have absolutely cleaned up in NBA postseason awards. Sabonis and Fox each earned MVP votes, Keegan Murray made the All-Rookie first team, Mike Brown was voted NBA Coach of the Year, Monte McNair earned the Executive of the Year award and Fox also took home the inaugural Clutch Player of the Year award.

With team success comes personal accolades. Now it’s time to build on an impressive campaign.

 

Reply

or to participate.