How De'Aaron Fox became the Spurs' closer - ESPN

IT'S 12:30 A.M., and De'Aaron Fox just slid on a pair of Chelsea boots with his gray slacks and a brown ribbed crew neck sweater over a collared white shirt.

As teammates wearing Nike tech fleece, jeans and hoodies scurry through the locker room to board SUVs and buses awaiting outside that will take the San Antonio Spurs to an optional team dinner after their Game 3 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the conference semifinals, Fox stuffs both hands into his pockets and shakes his head.

The 28-year-old «old man» of this young group has made up his mind.

«It's already 12:30. I will not be at the dinner,» Fox said. «We can do brunch tomorrow.»

Fox acknowledges he's a man who thrives off routine, having «one, two, maybe three options of what a day is going to be like, and I don't veer off from that very much at all.» It's behavior Fox learned through nine seasons in the NBA.

Fox says he firmly believes the steadier his life is off the court, the more his game can grow. It's how he continues to rise every time he falls fighting through a high right ankle sprain that has hobbled him since Game 4 against the Wolves on May 10.

«It allows me to be more consistent, more levelheaded,» Fox told ESPN. «If I'm not making shots, I feel like I don't get sporadic. Even when I'm making shots, my game doesn't change. I think I stay kind of level, through it all.»

But Fox's NBA routine was upended more than a year ago when he was traded by the Sacramento Kings, the only team he'd played for in his first eight NBA seasons, to the Spurs. Immediately, he morphed from thriving as his squad's ball-dominant star to joining a team built around Victor Wembanyama, the future of the NBA. The change hasn't been without its hiccups, but Fox's