Kentucky freshman point guard De’Aaron Fox is a projected top-10 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. With averages of 15.4 points, 5.2 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game, Fox has proven that he’s got serious pro potential.
Strangely, he credits a lot of his basketball IQ to… playing video games. His father, Aaron, insists “PlayStation helped him get where he is today.” And if Fox isn’t hooping, he’s gaming—up to six hours a day—according to Bleacher Report’s extensive feature on Fox:
If Fox isn’t on a basketball court, chances are he’s connected to a video game console, which his older brother introduced him to at age three.
He’s awesome at Madden. He slays at the UFC game, claiming a record of “300-something to 17” over his best high school friend. He’s virtually unbeatable in NBA2K, despite the fact that he doesn’t choose the Cavaliers or the Warriors—he picks the Thunder, because Russell Westbrook is his favorite player. (The only person who has beaten him in 2K at Kentucky is former basketball player E.J. Floreal, but Fox is quick to point out that it was only once, and that Floreal got lucky.)
…
You may ask, How many hours a day does he play? Four? More. Five? Close. Six? Probably about that.
Spending that much time in front of a TV screen might seem like a problem for an elite athlete who will soon have the fortunes of an NBA franchise resting on his shoulders. Not for Fox. What shines most about his game, along with his speed and his athleticism, is the way he sees plays unfold before him.
“He’s one that runs fast, but his mind moves slow, and we’re trying to teach that in everything we do,” Calipari says. “We fly. But your mind can’t move as fast as your feet or you’re going to turn it over. So you gotta run fast and be able to process slower to see what’s happening, because if you process slower, you can kind of see what’s going to [happen].
Fox’s Wildcats improved to 25-5 with a win over Vanderbilt on Tuesday night. We’re willing to bet he celebrated by jumping on the sticks to play some 2K.
For his part, Fox responded on Twitter that he actually doesn’t play that much 2K:
Lol I actually don't play 2k like that. That's just how it all started 🤷🏾♂️
— De'Aaron Fox (@swipathefox) February 28, 2017
(He didn’t say anything about his Dragon Ball Z habits, though.)
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