The Kings fell 120-117 to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday, but De’Aaron Fox flew through the paint with a highlight-reel dunk in the fourth quarter.
The Kings' dynamic duo of De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis continue to get no love from fans outside of Sacramento.
Despite leading Sacramento to the fifth-best record in the Western Conference, the 10th-best record in the NBA and its best start in 16 years, both Fox and Sabonis are absent in the first fan vote return for the 2023 NBA All-Star Game.
As it stands, Sabonis leads the NBA in double-doubles with 28, including his current streak of 15 consecutive games with a double-double.
Fox, on the other hand, is tied with Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal for seventh in the league in fourth-quarter scoring with 7.1 points per game, per Statmuse.
The 25-year-old recently dropped a career-high 22 points in the fourth quarter of the Kings' 117-115 win over the Utah Jazz on Tuesday.
After seeing the news, former NBA forward and current NBC Sports California/ESPN analyst was incredulous.
"I want to know how come we don't see Sabonis or Fox even mentioned," Barnes said Thursday during an appearance on ESPN's "NBA Today." "And I guess it's because, obviously, the Kings have missed the playoffs the last 16 years."
Barnes believes more fans will be alerted to Sacramento because of how the Kings have played so far.
"So two guys that I think now that we're starting to talk about them a little bit more on the national level and they're getting more nationally-televised games, fans will start to realize that Sacramento's been in the gutter for a long time, but they got some talented guys out there," Barnes continued.
NBA
"And they need some representation."
Meanwhile, the Kings' crosstown rival Golden State Warriors have six players, three in the frontcourt and three in the backcourt, in the top 10 of vote-getters.
RELATED: Why Fox should be named to first All-Star Game this season
The good news for Kings fans is the next fan update will be on Jan. 12.
That should be ample time to spread the news that the Kings, particularly Sabonis and Fox, are playing at All-Star levels and leading an upstart Sacramento squad to places it had not been in 16 years.
