Sacramento Kings fire head coach Mike Brown, expected to hire Doug Christie as interim

The Sacramento Kings have fired coach Mike Brown lower than midway via his third season with the workforce mired in a five-game dropping streak.

Common supervisor Monte McNair referred to as the transfer Friday a “troublesome resolution” and thanked Brown for his work. Assistant Doug Christie will take over as interim coach, along with his first recreation coming Saturday evening on the Los Angeles Lakers.

Brown was the unanimous selection for NBA Coach of the 12 months in his first season in 2022-23, when he helped Sacramento finish the longest playoff drought in NBA historical past at 16 seasons.

However Sacramento misplaced within the play-in event final yr and was off to a 13-18 begin this season, resulting in the transfer to fireplace Brown about six months after he agreed to a contract extension via the 2026-27 season.

The Kings have misplaced an NBA-worst 9 video games this season after main within the fourth quarter with the worst one coming in Brown’s remaining recreation as coach Thursday evening towards Detroit.

Sacramento led by 10 factors with lower than three minutes to play solely to break down down the stretch. Jaden Ivey transformed a four-point play with 3 seconds left when he made a 3-pointer in the appropriate nook and was fouled by De’Aaron Fox. That gave the Pistons a 114-113 win, leaving the Kings in twelfth place within the Western Convention.

The Kings got here into the season with hopes of ending within the high six within the West and avoiding the play-in event after buying DeMar DeRozan in a sign-and-trade deal over the summer season so as to add to a core that featured Fox, Domanta Sabonis and Keegan Murray.

Fox, who’s within the second-to-last yr of his five-year, $163 million contract, declined to signal an extension within the offseason. He mentioned on a podcast with Draymond Inexperienced earlier this month that he wished to be on a workforce that would “compete at a excessive stage.”

Sacramento has been removed from that this season, thanks largely to an NBA-worst 3-11 report in video games determined by 5 factors or fewer. Brown publicly criticized Fox for his function within the game-winning play Thursday evening, saying he ought to have been nearer to Ivey as a substitute of committing a foul on an in depth out.

“Try to be hugged as much as your man on the 3-point line,” Brown mentioned. “Everyone ought to, and why there was a closeout by Fox, I’m unsure. I acquired to return and watch the tape. However for certain 100% we informed our guys, can’t surrender a 3, can’t surrender a 3, can’t surrender a 3, keep on the excessive aspect, keep on the excessive aspect.”

Brown has a 107-88 report in two-plus seasons in Sacramento with a successful report in each of his full seasons. Rick Adelman is the one different coach to publish a successful report in a full season for the reason that Kings moved to Sacramento

Brown beforehand had two stints as coach in Cleveland and spent one-plus season as Lakers coach. He has a 455-304 report and has made the playoffs in seven of his 9 full seasons. He received Coach of the 12 months twice, additionally getting the award in Cleveland in 2008-09.

Christie would be the workforce’s eighth coach since proprietor Vivek Ranadive took over earlier than the 2013-14 season. The Kings have the fourth-worst report within the NBA and the fewest playoff berths with only one throughout Ranadive’s possession.

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