After a recent five-game losing streak, the Sacramento Kings quickly fired head coach Mike Brown on Friday. Additionally, their 2024–25 NBA season record of 13–18 hurt his chances of preserving his position. But there was a lot of criticism of the decision to fire him, notably from a current head coach.
There was an expectation that the Kings would improve this season after acquiring veteran All-Star DeMar DeRozan over the summer. However, the team has underperformed, which led to Brown’s firing.
Denver Nuggets head coach Mike Malone was asked about his thoughts on Brown’s firing. He spoke to the media and took a shot at the Kings franchise for their decision.
“I go into the meeting, the coaches say, ‘You hear about Mike Brown?’ I said, ‘Why? What happened?’ They said, ‘He got fired’.” Malone said about finding out about Brown’s firing. “At first, I was really shocked and surprised. Then I caught myself. Why am I shocked and surprised?”
“For two reasons, one, because as an NBA head coach, ultimately, you’re going to get the blame. When they win, it’s going to go to Sabonis and Fox. When you lose, it’s gonna go to Mike Brown. That’s the way it works. And two, who he works for. I’m not surprised that Mike Brown got fired ‘cause I got fired by the same person.”
Mike Malone:
“When you win, it's Fox and Sabonis, when you lose, it's on Mike Brown. That’s how it works… I’m not surprised he was fired because I was fired by the same person.”
(via @DNVR_Nuggets, h/t @HarrisonWind)pic.twitter.com/MlVGzXNJVA
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) December 28, 2024
“He’s in his car going to the airport to fly to LA and they call him on the phone. No class, no balls. That’s what I’ll say about that.”
Since the recent firing, Sacramento’s team has not named a replacement for Brown. For the moment, they’ve named assistant coach Doug Christie as the interim head coach.
Brown helped the Sacramento Kings break their playoff drought
Before the 2022–2023 NBA season, Brown was hired by the Sacramento Kings to succeed Alvin Gentry as head coach. The former head coach led the Kings to a 48–34 record, leading the team to its first playoff appearance since 2006. After that season, he earned the Coach of the Year award, beating Oklahoma City Thunder’s Mark Daigneault and Boston Celtics’ Joe Mazzulla.
However, his second season with the Kings wasn’t similar to his first. Sacramento missed the postseason and finished the 2023-24 season with a 46-36 record.
Before his stint with the Kings, Brown was part of Steve Kerr’s coaching staff from 2016 to 2022 at the Golden State Warriors. With the Warriors, he won three championships.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen with Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
