The New York Knicks made the largest comeback in NBA Finals history despite trailing by 29 points. While the blame shouldn’t ideally rest on one player, De’Aaron Fox finds himself on the wrong side of trolling. Analysts Charles Barkley, Emmanuel Acho, and Shannon Sharpe called it the ‘dumbest play’. Now, less than twenty hours later, WNBA announcers took another shot as Caitlin Clark’s Fever won 114-106.

The timing had basketball fans cracking up. After all the criticism aimed at De’Aaron Fox for not managing the clock properly late in the game, Fever’s Aliyah Boston protected the 3-point lead by passing up an open layup, dribbling to run clock, and drawing a foul instead of risking a turnover or block. The commentators immediately brought Fox’s name into the conversation.

Candace Parker: “Aliyah Boston electing to not take the layup and dribble the ball out.”

Michael Grady: “Making another reference to something that happened last night?”

In overtime, with 21 seconds remaining, Boston received an inbound pass, and the Fever had a three-point lead over the Chicago Sky. She was driving toward the basket but appeared to lose control of the ball, so it is hard to say if she would have gone the more prudent route had the Sky not fouled her. But the narrative remained that Fox messed up a similar play while Boston showed calming presence to keep the possession late in the game.

With 12 seconds remaining, the Spurs guard got possession after Jalen Brunson’s missed shot. The two-time All-Star attempted a layup instead of milking more time off the clock and allowing the opposition to foul him. OG Anunoby recorded a block. And after the Knicks’ timeout, Anunoby completed the comeback with a legendary tip-in with 1.2 ticks remaining. Fans online joked that Fox couldn’t even watch a WNBA game in peace without catching a stray shot.

Fans find another reason to roast De’Aaron Fox

The Spurs scored just 30 points after halftime. San Antonio led 76-49 at halftime and by as many as 29 points before the offense completely stalled. Netizens will question Fox’s decision for years to come, and the criticism is especially pungent less than 24 hours after the Game 4 debacle. And the WNBA announcers did the same.

BrickCenter, the X page with more than 230K followers, added, “WNBA commentators threw shade at De’Aaron Fox after Aliyah Boston did what Fox should’ve done😭.” Another fan added a similar comment, “They clowning De’Aaron Fox in the WNBA 😭.”

While the criticism was on Fox, the 28-year-old tried explaining his decision-making. “I just thought I’d be able to outrun him,” Fox said about his play. “That’s it.” Fox later explained that he was trying to extend the lead rather than run out the clock. “We haven’t scored. I tried to get a layup to get up three. Force them to need a three. OG made a good block. I just thought I’d be able to outrun them. That’s it,” he said.

A netizen reminded in the comments. “Lmaoo in dfox defense.. fever were already up 3.. He said he was tryna score to put them up 3.”

De’Aaron Fox had a rough shooting night, missing 10 of 16 from the field (including 4 of 5 shots in the fourth quarter), but all four of his turnovers came in the final 17 minutes of the game. Turnovers and missed shots are why Fox is receiving flak from all sides. After watching Boston regain control under pressure, a fan commented, “It was that easy, De’Aaron.”

While another simply mocked the Spurs star. “I thought Aaliyah Boston was bout to pull a DeAaron Fox.” The Spurs watched a 29-point lead disappear, and now return home facing a 3-1 deficit after one of the most dramatic collapses in NBA Finals history.