The two guns are combined, and the ten thousand arrows are fired in unison, and they are unstoppable.
On February 25, 2023, in a double-overtime battle, the Clippers felt the terrifying power of the King's double gun, in that game Delon Fox slashed 42 points and 12 assists, Malik Monk slashed 45 points and 6 assists, they used ferocious offensive and terrifying key ball performance to help the Kings beat the Clippers.
In the first game of the first round of the playoffs on April 16, the Kings and Warriors showed the defending champions and Warriors their horror. Fox scored 38 points in the first half with just nine points, while Monk scored 32 points on just 13 shots and hit all 14 free throws. In the end, the Kings completed a comeback to defeat the Warriors and get the series opener.
The king's double gun set quite a few records -
They are the first pair in NBA history to score at least 32 points each in their playoff debut.
They are the second pair in Kings history to score at least 30 points in a single playoff game, starting with Mike Bibby and Peja Stojakovic.
The king's two guns were like two sharp knives, and each gave a stab to the heart of the warrior.
At one time, Fox and Monk were Kentucky alumni, living in the same dormitory and having a deep brotherhood. After entering the NBA parting ways, their feelings did not fade, and the tacit understanding did not disappear, when Monk joined the Kings in the 2022 offseason because of Fox, Kentucky, which used to make universities across the United States, reunited.
Returning to the playoffs and the playoffs is just the beginning, and they have bigger goals.
Win the MVP trophy
Monk, like Lakers rising star Austin Reeves, was born in Arkansas, where, in Monk's words, is so remote that people in the outside world don't even know there are basketball players in Arkansas.
Fox was born in New Orleans, and he and Monk had no geographical relationship, but the two made a name for themselves in four years of high school, playing the McDonald's All-Star Game together, and in 2016 they got a chance to participate in the Jordan Classic, the top tournament in high school basketball.
At that Jordan Classic, Fox scored 23 points for the East, Monk scored 22 points for the West, and Fox's team won 131-117, but the two were elected MVP together, and Cameron Anthony presented the award.
'It was exciting, Monk came up and felt hot, I got some points and we said 'let's work together for the MVP trophy' and we did." Fox said.
In the process of competing together in top tournaments, the two forged a friendship, they fought fiercely in the game, did not exclude each other from defending, and they also gave their all in training, no one obeyed the other, and even spewed trash talk.
Kentucky double-gun years
In the summer of 2016, Monk and Fox said goodbye to their high school life, and they were both recruited by coach John Kalipari to join the giants University of Kentucky, where they were roommates. It is worth mentioning that before joining Kentucky, both wore the number 5 shirt, and after arriving in Kentucky, Fox gave the No. 5 jersey to Monk and changed to the number 0 jersey himself.
Along with Adebayo, who now plays for the Heat, Kentucky became an instant favorite to win the championship. That season, the three rising stars had a clear division of labor, and Kentucky was outstanding. Fox plays the playmaker, Adebayo acts as the defensive gate, and Monk is the attacking arrow. In the 2016-17 season, Monk averaged 19.8 points per game and was the team's scoring leader, while Fox averaged 16.7 points and 4.6 assists per game to establish the status of the top point guard in the United States.
The 2017 NCAA Tournament was a lifelong pain for Monk and Fox, who carried Kentucky all the way to the elite quarterfinals and hoped to win the championship. In the final minute of the battle against North Carolina, Monk hit an equalizing three-pointer. Unfortunately, Calipari made the fatal mistake that made him shout "regret" after the game, he did not call a timeout, and North Carolina quickly countered with an opponent's unsteady footing, and striker Luke Mayer hit a 45-degree catch on the left to send Kentucky out.
"That ball was playing back and forth in my head, and it was really hard to cross." Fox said with tears in his eyes.
"When we committed to Kentucky, we knew we only had one chance to win the title."
If the opportunity is missed, there will be no more, and the two will only regret it. After his freshman season, Monk and Fox both competed in the 2017 NBA Draft, with Fox being picked by the Kings with the 5th pick and Monk selected by the Hornets with the 11th pick, and the Kentucky duo parted ways and embarked on different journeys.
From being questioned to self-justification
It can also be seen from the draft picks of Fox and Monk that they have high hopes from their respective teams, but both have gone through the stage of being questioned.
In the NBA, which is seriously involved, it is not only strength that can be done, but also opportunity. Monk didn't get a chance after joining the Hornets, and he was firmly pressed on the bench by Kemba Walker early in his career, and he survived until Walker left, and he was pressed off the bench by Rozier and Derwent Graham. Later, LaMelo Poll joined, and Monk could only play as a substitute.
Monk's positioning with the Hornets is awkward, the Hornets do not see him as a backcourt core, and with his defensive ability he is not enough to be on the backcourt core at the same time, so he can only play the sixth man. In the 2020-21 season, Monk averaged 11.7 points per game and shot 40.1% from three-point range, two career highs, but in the eyes of the Hornets, Monk, who is about to face a contract extension, is very fungible, and they chose to give up.
In the 2021 offseason, the Lakers signed Monk with a base salary at the suggestion of James and Vogel. Monk proved his worth last season, and he was a surprise in the Lakers' disastrous season, averaging 13.8 points per game, shooting a career-high 47.3 percent from the field and 39.1 percent from three-point range.
In the 2022 offseason, Monk joined the Kings for $19 million in 2 years, and he came to join forces with Fox again.
Fox's situation is different from Monk's, Fox is burdened with too high expectations. As the No. 5 pick, his projection weaknesses and mistakes were obvious early in his career, and no one was sure if Fox could take on the core responsibility. In particular, the King did not select Doncic later, gave Fox a maximum salary contract, and sent Haliburton away in the middle of last season, removing all obstacles for Fox to serve as the core, and if Fox can't get results, he is not the only one who will be scolded.
After experiencing ups and downs in form and detours to gain weight, Fox regained weight this season and regained his lost speed advantage, averaging 25 points and 6.1 assists per game while shooting a career-high 51.2% from the field. Fox's three-point shooting is still unstable, but he has a career high in efficiency in the throwing zone and mid-range. In addition, Fox is the king of key moments this season, and his key moments are super high in terms of efficiency and no one else can match. This year's All-Star, Fox was selected, and the last time the Kings was selected as an All-Star was back in 2017.
Sniper Warrior
The Kings and Warriors series, the public opinion is optimistic about the Warriors, even if the Warriors are only sixth in the West, and the Kings are third in the West, The Athletic experts, industry insiders interviewed are still generally optimistic about the Warriors, even Draymond Green is not modest to say that they will eliminate the Kings to advance.
In the face of the outside world's bullishness, Munch only left a sentence of "we will start first" as a response.
In the first half, it was indeed the Warriors who had the upper hand. Kevin Looney and Green tortured Sabonis Jr., the core of the Kings' positional battle, and Fox was limited by Wiggins and Payton Jr., but Monk scored 15 points in the first half, and the Kings trailed by only 6 points in the half.
In the second half, everything was different, seeing that Sabonis Jr.'s tandem as a playmaker point was scrapped, the King turned on Fox's ball-holding blocking and single-play mode in advance, and the Warriors resolutely chose to go around the defense, empty Fox, challenge his shooting, and Fox kept hitting with divine help. In the fourth quarter, the Warriors even did not hesitate to use Green to face Fox, but Fox could still score despite defensive strong three-point shots and throws.
Fox turns on attack mode, and Monk goes into assist mode. In the fourth quarter, Monk hit a three-point shot from Fox's pass, and he also faced Wiggins defensively to complete a layup, and various breakthroughs made a free throw line.
This is a battle of the king's two-gun declarations, and in terms of experience, they are indeed inferior to the warriors, but they do not intend to be reduced to meat on the board and left to be slaughtered by the warriors. The Warriors had already put out all the defensive resources they could to counter the double gun, but the King's double gun still combined to score 70 points, finishing the splash brothers.
"It hurts to not win a championship at the University of Kentucky, but now that we're playing together again, if we can win an NBA championship, it will definitely heal those wounds," Fox said.
The Kentucky Guns failed to lift the NCAA Championship Trophy together, and the Kings were eager to make up for that year's regrets in the NBA.
Many people may laugh at Fox's NBA dream, after all, the Kings have just ended a 16-year playoff drought, after all, the Kings are in the last place in the defensive league.
But in Fox's view, only dreams that are ridiculed have the value of being realized. With Monk, including Sabonis Jr. and other good brothers by his side, Fox has the courage to rush for the championship.