Sacramento Kings star De’Aaron Fox was awarded the all-new 2023 Jerry West Clutch Player of the Year Award on Tuesday.
The guard has played a massive role in his team’s success this season and thus far in the NBA Playoffs. Fox won by a landslide with 91 out of the possible 100 first-place votes and 460 out of the possible 500 votes in the overall points for winning the award. Following behind the Kings guard in the voting-based competition were Jimmy Butler, DeMar DeRozan, Jalen Brunson, and Joel Embiid, according to ESPN.
De’Aaron Fox scored 1️⃣9️⃣4️⃣ points in clutch time this season 🔥
Here’s the voter breakdown for the Clutch Player of the Year finalists ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/W7uvEgLqqw
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 19, 2023
Fox has most certainly earned this award, leading the league in clutch scoring with 194 points, ESPN reported. His late-game boosts have helped his team win important games, and he is the lead scorer for the Kings in their first two games against the Golden State Warriors. Fox scored 38 points in his playoff debut, according to NBC Sports. (RELATED: Rudy Gobert Throws A Punch At His Teammate During A Timeout, Instantly Gets Tossed From Game)
“You can’t be afraid to fail,” Fox said, according to ESPN. “Obviously, you’re not going to make every shot, but my teammates, my coaches, they put me in position to succeed. So the least I can do is have confidence in myself to take good shots”
This is the inaugural year for the Jerry West Clutch Player of the Year Award, which is given to the player who has had the most clutch season out of all players in the NBA. The league has recognized Jerry West as the most clutch player of all time for his moments of clutch madness during his career. West earned the nickname “Mr. Clutch” and is responsible for the most-famous buzzer-beater of all time, according to NBA.com.