Jeff Teague: "The disrespect towards De'Aaron Fox is hindering his game"

When the Spurs traded for De’Aaron Fox, they took on his max contract with the intention of him being their co-franchise player alongside once-in-a-generation young talent Victor Wembanyama. Then, just a few months after acquiring Fox, the ping-pong gods of the NBA Lottery favored San Antonio once again, sending them the No. 2 overall pick in 2025, where they drafted Dylan Harper. Now, even though he helped lead the team to the NBA Finals, the nagging talking points around the Internet are that Fox has been a disappointment in the playoffs. Jeff Teague, former NBA player and brother of NCAA champion Marquis, thinks the disrespect further hurts Fox’s game.

On his 520 podcast, Teague said, “You could tell [Fox was] taking his foot off the gas a little bit (in Game 2) and letting other people do things. And that’s cool. I’ve been there before as an NBA player. You hear the noise, and it affects you a little bit. You just want to do enough so people get off, like, ‘It wasn’t me.'”

Fox finished Game 2 with an efficient 20 points on 8-12 shooting, but it came on the heels of a lackluster Game 1 when he put up just seven points on 3-13 from the field. Overall, this postseason, Fox is averaging 16.1 points, notably below his 21.1 point career average and slightly below the 18.6 points per game he registered in the regular season.

The two-time All-Star knew he wouldn’t be putting up the same numbers he did in Sacramento and addressed it before the Finals began. He said, “Obviously, I’m not shooting the ball as much. But coming here, I knew that was the way that it was going to be. As a player, you sacrifice for the betterment of the team.”

Teammate social media mistakes and an ankle injury aren’t helping

His teammate, Dylan Harper, who some fans have been clamoring to take some of Fox’s minutes, didn’t help matters when he reposted a video on TikTok bashing Fox. He later deleted the post, and it is very possible that it was a mistake, but as Lou Williams said, “He watched it long enough to make an accident.”

The other understressed factor in this discussion is that Fox is playing through an injury right now. The usually explosive point guard suffered a severe right high ankle sprain in the Western Conference Semifinals, which forced him to miss the first two games of the Western Conference Finals. If this were the regular season, he could very well still be sitting out, but instead, he is playing through the pain, although relying more on jumpers than attacking the basket.

Still, it would have been great to see the former NBA Clutch Player of the Year be more aggressive in Game 2 down the stretch against the Knicks, especially down one with under 10 seconds to go. Sure, Victor Wembanyama is the face of the organization (and soon the league), but if I’m a Spurs fan, I would much rather see one of the best 4th quarter finishers in the NBA drive to the hoop for a last-second shot rather than see him pass to the team’s 7-foot-4 center for an 18-foot fadeaway jumper.

Like Jeff Teague said, “(We want him) to be the person and player that we know he can be. He was one of the best 4th quarter players in the NBA for years.”

Fox and the Spurs are down 2-0 as they head to New York for a make-or-break Game 3.