What made De鈥橝aron Fox change his mind and decide to withdraw from the United States team to the FIBA Basketball World Cup? Based on the news Yahoo! Sports鈥 Chris Haynes broke via Twitter, he seemed to have an epiphany and moved to 鈥渇ocus on upcoming season with goal of making playoffs鈥 just hours before it was scheduled to fly to Australia for a series of tuneup matches. Considering how much he hitherto appeared to relish the prospect of suiting up for the red, white, and blue, the timing was, at the very least, suspect.
Certainly, Fox did all he could to make the cut. Originally part of the Select Team that served to act as a foil for the primary squad, he played well enough during scrimmages to be promoted and considered for the final roster. Teammates especially raved about his speed with the ball in his hand. 鈥淗e makes fast people look not fast,鈥 fellow hopeful Marcus Smart noted. And, indeed, it was on full display during the Blue vs. White set-to early this month; he finished the contest with 11, three, three, three, and two in only 15 minutes of exposure.
For some reason, though, Fox seemed far less enthused after Team USA met Spain last Friday. He wound up burning rubber for a mere six minutes and 11 seconds, the shortest time spent on the court by any player other than the injured Smart. Even supposed third-string backup Derrick White saw more action. Adding to the intrigue was the latter鈥檚 status as a Spur seen to be far more familiar with head coach Gregg Popovich鈥檚 system. In any case, he opted to stay behind while the rest headed Down Under.
Popovich couldn鈥檛 care less, to be sure. In fact, it has made his work easier. Before the unexpected turn of events, he spoke about the unenviable task of having to give bad news to those on the bubble. 鈥淲hen you cut people from your regular NBA team, it鈥檚 difficult,鈥 he said, his words seemingly referring to White. Meanwhile, Fox unintentionally made Harrison Barnes look bad. If he was so keen on helping the Sac-town franchise go deep in the postseason as to set aside the opportunity to toil for flag and country, why can鈥檛 his Kings teammate as well?
There鈥檚 more to Fox鈥檚 exit than meets the eye, but, really, the US is a powerhouse with or without him. It remains heavily favored to win gold at the World Cup. And, moving forward, the 鈥減layer equity鈥 USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo keeps underscoring may yet give the one-and-done Wildcat a handicap that keeping him from ever being a member of Team USA. Too bad.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since 大象传媒 introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
