Former NBA champion calls out De'Aaron Fox for bad layup attempt late in Game 4

In Game 4 of the 2026 NBA Finals, the San Antonio Spurs had the biggest collapse in the history of the Finals. They held a 29-point lead at one point, but still lost the game. OG Anunoby is the hero for the New York Knicks, but there is one player who has become the punching bag after Game 4. 

That player is veteran Spurs guard De'Aaron Fox. He had an opportunity to extend San Antonio's lead late in the game. Fox was in transition, but instead of wasting time to draw a foul, he suddenly went for a layup that was then blocked by Anunoby.

Iman Shumpert calls out De'Aaron Fox's layup attempt

As the veteran on the Spurs, Fox is expected to make the big decisions. He is a floor general, so it is normal to expect him to make the right decisions because he has a good head on his shoulders.

That was not the case with around 12 seconds left on the clock in Game 4. He could have easily wasted time and dribbled the ball out rather than attempting a layup against one of the league's best defenders.

MORE: All the bad plays that De'Aaron Fox had during the second half of Game 4

That has led to him getting called out from all directions. This includes Iman Shumpert, a former champion with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016. He could have easily done the Steve Nash dribble to take it out of the paint, but his decision did not pay off.

"De'Aaron Fox, you need to dunk that. We'd had this conversation before. I'm disappointed in you. That's why you dunk that; you don't leave a little window of indecision. Either you go party or you back out," Shumpert said on ESPN about Fox's blunder.

It is hard to argue against Shumpert's point because Fox did have a lot of time to make a good decision. Instead, he went for glory, and it ended up backfiring on him. He thought he had the right decision, but now, he has to deal with it now that they are 3-1 down against the Knicks.

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