Nuggets coach Michael Malone, whose first head coaching job was in Sacramento, ripped the Kings for firing Mike Brown on Friday and revealed that Brown was informed of the decision via a phone call after leaving a team practice.
“What really pissed me off about it was that they lost last night, fifth game in a row, I believe — tough loss, fouling a jump-shooter — they have practice this morning, he does his post-(practice) media, and he’s in his car going to the airport to fly to L.A.,” Malone said. “And they call him on the phone. No class. No (guts). That’s what I’ll say about that.”
Malone, 53, was fired by the Kings almost 10 years ago to the date, on Dec. 15, 2014. He was 24 games into his second season at the helm with an 11-13 record. Sacramento has now cycled through six head coaches since Malone, including interims. Brown was the most successful among them, winning NBA Coach of the Year in 2022-23 after helping the Kings break an NBA-record 16-year playoff drought.
They were the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference that season, but they regressed in Brown’s second year, losing in the play-in tournament. Sacramento was 13-18 as of Friday, when Brown lost his job. On Thursday night, the team lost 114-113 to the Pistons by giving up a 4-point play to Jaden Ivey in the final seconds.
Brown had signed a three-year extension through 2027 in June. The Kings have been owned by software tycoon Vivek Ranadive since 2013.
“Awful. Yeah, awful,” Malone said. “And the reason I say that is, we were going into a meeting this afternoon, and the good thing about me is that, honestly, I’m not on social media. I’m not aware of what’s going on outside these walls sometimes. I’ve had an office with no windows for 10 years. It’s probably taken off six years of my life. And I go into the meeting, and the coaches say, ‘Did you hear about Mike Brown?’ And I say, ‘Why, what happened?’ They said he got fired. And at first, I was really shocked and surprised, and then I caught myself and said, ‘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 (Domantas) Sabonis and (De’Aaron) Fox. When you lose, it’s gonna go to Mike Brown. That’s the way it works. And two, who he works for. So I’m not surprised that Mike Brown got fired, because I got fired by the same person.”
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