On January 21st, halfway through the Sacramento Kings’ longest road trip of the season, De’Aaron Fox scored an inefficient 9 points on 14 shots in a blowout loss the Brooklyn Nets. In the two games prior, he recorded 14 points on 13 shots and 10 points on 10 shots, a far cry from the dynamic scorer featured earlier in the year. The sophomore stud emanated an aura of exhaustion in his time on the floor.
Whispers abounded the next day that the Kings were considering resting their star point guard. Sacramento was facing the Toronto Raptors on the road in the second game of a back-to-back, what most would consider a scheduled loss; however, Kawhi Leonard was also sitting out for the home team.