Acuff Wasn't Bothered By Slow Start in NBA Summer League Debut

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — It's often said that it's not how you start, but how you finish that truly matters.

Darius Acuff Jr. was probably glad that phrase was true in Saturday's NBA Summer League contest against the Brooklyn Nets, which saw the former Arkansas guard miss his first seven shots and go 3-14 from the field in the first half.

Acuff ended the night with 25 points after shooting 6-15 from the field in the second half and dishing out the game-winning assist to Nique Clifford on a play reminiscent of many similarly intuitive plays he made during his lone season with the Razorbacks.

"I was on an island by myself," Acuff said, per Sean Cunningham of NBC Sacramento, regarding the game-winning assist. "I seen his man kind of cheating over a little bit. I trusted him and I knew he would make it. He's a great shooter, he's been putting in great work this offseason. I just made the right play and he knocked it down for me."

Darius Acuff Jr. talks about his first action with the Sacramento Kings in today's California Classic win over the Brooklyn Nets, his shooting struggles to begin the game, putting up 29 shots and setting up Nique Clifford for the game-winning shot. pic.twitter.com/6Umd1010l1
— Sean Cunningham (@SeanCunningham) July 5, 2026

Clifford's triple lifted the Kings to a 79-76 victory, which while an unofficial win, was still Acuff's focus even as he struggled in his professional debut.

"I was just trying to stay in the game [and] make sure we come out with the win," Acuff said. "We had a lot of guys play good today, especially off the bench. It wasn't really bothering me. As long as we came out with the win, that's the best outcome for me."

That attitude tracks with how Acuff approached the game in Fayetteville. After dropping 49 points in a road loss to Alabama on Feb. 18, an injured Acuff was undeterred and played on Feb. 21 against Missouri, scoring 20 points in 35 minutes in an Arkansas win.

"We just lost to Alabama," Arkansas head coach Calipari said in June. "I had four guys foul out of the game. [Acuff] is trying to will us to win. His foot is so bad. He scores 49. We come back [to Fayetteville], I said, 'Listen, you should take the next game off.'

"He looks at me and he says, 'Do you know we lost?' And he got up and left. Like, 'I'm not sitting out, we just lost a game.' You don't want that? You don't want a guy that, he's gonna give you everything he has?"

In the grand scheme of things, player development is much more important during summer league games than wins and losses. But for Acuff, the two seem intertwined, which should be encouraging to Kings fans desperate for victories.

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