Esquire followed De'Aaron Fox around on draft night; concludes he is "irrepressibly cool"

On a night when the lights were bright, few players shined like De’Aaron Fox. From flashing his blinged out watch at the start of ESPN’s broadcast to thoughtfully answering the Sports Illustrated kid reporter’s questions afterwards, Fox was the most charismatic player in the Barclays Center last night. Esquire magazine agrees. Esquire‘s Jack Holmes shadowed Fox last night as he made the rounds, and reported that he was positively charmed.

And Fox is ready for the fame. Whether because of his time on the big stage of Kentucky basketball or some inherent effervescence, Fox is not just media-savvy, or “a good kid.” He can command a room from a press-conference microphone, and he can jaw with a reporter without ever saying something he wouldn’t want on Twitter. He’s got a nerdiness to him–he doesn’t go out, he says, and he plays video games as much as five or six hours a day–but he pairs it with a self-possession, a comfort with his own being, that is irrepressibly cool.

Lots of really interesting stuff in this profile, including how grueling draft night can be for prospects after they hear their name called, and, not surprisingly, that Fox handled it better than most.

[Esquire]