Seven games into his NBA career, Darius Acuff Jr. has already scored 183 points, the most by any player through his first seven games since Shaquille O’Neal put up 187 in 1992. The 19-year-old Detroit native and Cass Technical High School product is averaging 26.1 points, 6.3 assists and 3.9 rebounds a night for the Sacramento Kings, numbers that have drawn attention to the rookie just weeks into the season.
A Scoring Pace Not Seen in Decades
Through seven games, Acuff is shooting 40.6% from the field and 31.3% from three, according to si.com. Those efficiency numbers have been trending up sharply: over his last four games, Acuff has shot 46.7% from the field and 42.5% from three, per the same report. He is also the second player ever to average at least 26 points and six assists through his first seven games, a feat last accomplished by Oscar Robertson in 1960.
The Athletic, via The New York Times, notes that Acuff’s 26.1 points and 6.3 assists per game lead all rookies this season. He was the No. 7 pick in last summer’s NBA Draft after being named SEC Player of the Year as a freshman at Arkansas, the outlet reports.
Historic Shooting Nights
Acuff’s breakout stretch has included multiple eye-popping performances. He scored 34 points and had 14 assists in a 132-120 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on October 29, 2026, two days before scoring 38 points and making nine three-pointers in Sacramento’s 136-105 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on October 31, 2026, going 12 of 25 from the field and 9 of 14 from deep, according to NBA.com. The league’s official site notes his performance against New Orleans.
Sacramento finally got into the win column behind Acuff, who scored 25 points with six assists, five rebounds and a steal in a 115-100 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, per NBA.com. He played 37 minutes in that game, part of a workload that has him attempting 165 field goals through his first seven career games, the highest mark in NBA history, according to Yahoo Sports.
Joining Company With Shaq, Iverson and Trae Young
The volume behind Acuff’s production has drawn repeated comparisons to some of the league’s most explosive young scorers. Yahoo Sports reports he is the first rookie since Shaquille O’Neal in the 1992-93 season to score more than 150 points through his first six games, and he recorded three 30-point performances in that same span, joining Allen Iverson as the only other rookie to do so, per the outlet’s reporting.
Si.com also found that Acuff is the first player with at least 44 assists through his first seven career games since Trae Young had 46 in 2018. And he is the first rookie since Cooper Flagg, and just the fourth teenager in NBA history, to post at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists in three consecutive games, the site reported on Wednesday, November 4, 2026.
A Detroit Kid Who Grew Up Fast
Before landing in Sacramento, Acuff spent two years at Cass Technical High School in Detroit, where he was a 2022 Associated Press All-State Honorable Mention as a freshman before averaging 21.4 points and 5.7 assists per game as a sophomore, according to ClickOnDetroit. His hometown ties have become part of the story as he emerges as one of the league’s most unlikely early-season headliners, as reported by WDIV ClickOnDetroit.
Not everything about the early stretch has been encouraging for Sacramento, which has struggled to find wins even as Acuff fills up the box score. Coach Doug Christie has said Acuff should continue to be aggressive.
