Report: Kings fire former coach of the year Mike Brown

On By Littum

Life can come at you fast in the NBA.

The Sacramento Kings have parted ways with head coach Mike Brown after a 13-18 start to the season, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Friday.

Brown won the Coach of the Year award just two seasons ago when he led the Kings to their first playoff berth in nearly two decades. His first few seasons even earned the 54-year-old a three-year, $30 million extension that would have kept him in Sacramento through the 2026-27 campaign.

Aside from Rick Adelman, Brown was the only other Kings coach to lead the team to a winning record in any season since the franchise moved to Sacramento in 1985.

Unfortunately for the veteran coach, the allure of his early success quickly wore off. The Kings missed the playoffs last year when they were bounced in the second round of the Play-In as the ninth seed, and are riding just 34 wins right now, which would have been the fewest since Brown took over.

A mediocre record, lack of identity and a season-worst five-game skid appeared to be enough for the front office to pursue a change in direction.

When the Brown-led Kings were at their peak two years ago, Sacramento was the league’s best offense. Still, through 31 games in 2024-2024, the Kings rank 11th in points per game. game and ninth in offensive rating and remains a middle-of-the-pack defensive pack.

Things got particularly grim this week when the Kings allowed 70 points in the second half of a 122-95 loss to the Indiana Pacers, and followed that up by blowing a 19-point lead to the Detroit Pistons on Thursday.

Not what most expected from a team built around an All-Star pairing in De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis — one that also added a six-time All-Star in DeMar DeRozan through free agency in the summer.

More changes could also be on the way in Sacramento. Fox’s time with the franchise that drafted him fifth overall in 2017 may be coming to an end as the 27-year-old opted not to sign an extension entering the year and is two seasons away from unrestricted free agency.

Rumors have already started swirling, linking the All-Star guard to teams like the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets.