BBNBA: Fox returns to Sacramento, Quickley drops season-high, Vanderbilt earns first start

The last few days in BBNBA have been fraught with firsts and sprinkled with emotion. Some storylines were infuriating, none more so than Draymond Green claiming Karl-Anthony Towns sat out the Knicks’ game against the Warriors because he was scared of Jimmy Butler, when in actuality, Towns was at a close family friend’s funeral. Others, however, were more touching, especially De’Aaron Fox‘s first game back in Sacramento after the team traded him to the San Antonio Spurs.

Unlike the reception DJ Wagner, Adou Thiero, and Big Z got when they made their high-profile return to Rupp Arena to a chorus of boos, the folks up in Northern California gave De’Aaron Fox (mostly) a standing ovation.

Of course, some people booed, but even though Fox was the one who asked for the trade to move back to his home state of Texas, the majority of fans showed him their appreciation for nearly eight years of giving everything he had to the franchise. The Kings also put together a video tribute to their former star. Honestly, in a world where being a jerk is often everyone’s knee-jerk reaction to everything, it was cool to see.

As for the game itself, it wasn’t Fox’s best. He scored 16 points and had eight assists, but shot just 6-17 from the floor, including 0-6 from behind the arc. At least he got to sleep in his own bed again for a night.

De'Aaron Fox received a mostly positive ovation from Kings fans. A few boos but not much.

Harrison Barnes did get a more overwhelmingly positive ovation. pic.twitter.com/n0NrXKFjIS

— Matt George (@MattGeorgeSAC) March 8, 2025

Immanuel Quickley scores a season-high 34 points

Like so many other current and former Kentucky players this year, Immanuel Quickley has been eaten up by the injury bug. Finally (mostly) healthy, IQ broke out with his best game of the season on Thursday, dropping 34 points in the Raptors’ win over the Jazz on Friday.

His previous season high was 25.

It was a game so good that he actually had to sit out Toronto’s game on Saturday just to rest. Seriously. The official reason he was out was literally, “rest.” Of course, the rest was more likely due to injury maintenance and not being exhausted from so many made baskets, but it is more fun that way.

Jarred Vanderbilt gets first start of the season for the Lakers

Another oft-injured member of the BBNBA is easing back into his return in a big way. Jarred Vanderbilt earned his first start of the season for the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday, as the Lake Show who were without Jaxson Hayes, looks to find the right combination of players to gel with their new starting point guard, Luka Doncic.

Vando may have only had four points in the Lakers’ loss to the Celtics, but the defensive specialist who brings more energy than dog with the zoomies also had eight rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

Jarred Vanderbilt in two minutes has been causing havoc on defense this second quarter as the team's center

Vando is literally all over the court brining much needed energy with no Jaxson Hayes tonight pic.twitter.com/EzTIBlTgQc

— LakeShow Highlights (@LSH_lakeshow) March 9, 2025

Booker’s big game overshadowed by Jokic’s historic one

Typically, scoring 34 points in a game will be the highlight of the night, but that was not the case when the Phoenix Suns took on the Denver Nuggets. Devin Booker dropped 34 to go along with seven assists, six assists, and two steals, but those numbers looked paltry next to what Nikola Jokic did.

The former MVP posted 31 points, 22 assists, and 21 rebounds, becoming the first player in NBA history to record a 30-20-20 triple double. I know Jokic didn’t play for Kentucky but daaaanng, that is a crazy stat line. That game alone shouldn’t propel him above Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the MVP race, but that is one for the history books.

Jamal Murray chipped in 19 points and eight assists for the Nuggets as they went on to win the game 149-141 in overtime.