The Sacramento Kings made an interesting move as they continue to struggle this season as it is being reported that they have parted ways with coach Mike Brown. He was named the NBA Coach of the Year in 2023 and helped the team make the playoffs in his first season with the team. However, he was fired in the midst of his third season as the team is after having a disappointing start to the NBA season. Let’s take a deeper dive into what happened and what this move means for the team going forward.
Sacramento Kings fire Mike Brown
It is being reported by ESPN’s Shams Charania that the Sacramento Kings have decided to fire coach Mike Brown on Friday afternoon. This Kings team has been underperforming this season as they have lost 12 of their previous 17 games, including a current five-game losing streak. They also are struggling to win clutch time games (five-point games with five minutes remaining) as they lost an NBA-leading 13 times in those situations. The team has not announced who the interim coach will be as of this writing but the 13-18 Sacramento Kings are looking for a spark as they sit in the 12th seed in the Western Conference.
The next coaching hire is going to be pivotal for the Sacramento Kings as point guard De’Aaron Fox is a free agent after next season and this could cause an issue. However, in the NBA superstars can demand a trade at any point of their contract status and the 27-year-old could want out after seeing the change. The next move that the Kings make could be critical as they have a lot of talent that just have been underperforming up to this point in the year.
Mike Brown has been a head coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers (2005-2010, 2013-14), Los Angeles Lakers (2011-12), and the Sacramento Kings (2022-24) while also being an experienced assistant coach on winning staffs. He has a lifetime 454-304 record as a head coach, including 50-40 in the postseason and could be a strong contender for another coaching vacancy in the future. There is also the possibility that he lets the franchise pay him as he signed a three-year extension through 2027 during the offseason. The Kings need to figure out what direction they want to go next but as of right now, things are not looking good enough to light the beam anytime soon.
