Sad news: The Sacramento Kings head coach has announced his retirement due to his….
Then-Warriors top assistant Mike Brown boarded an aircraft to San Diego to watch his new star De’Aaron Fox work out and take the Sacramento guard and his family to lunch during a break between Golden State’s Western Conference finals games against Dallas.
Following that, Brown boarded another jet to return to Golden State in order to prepare for the playoffs.
Shortly after the Warriors’ triumphant procession through San Francisco to commemorate their fourth championship in eight years, Brown was formally presented as the new coach of the Kings on Tuesday.
As soon as the schedule allowed, Brown began working with the Kings, saying, “I’ve been heavily involved.” “I’ve had multiple conversations with every player.”
The experienced Brown was hired by Sacramento in May, but he remained with the Warriors during their postseason run, which culminated last Thursday night in the decisive Game 6 at Boston with the team’s fourth championship in eight years.
“Let me begin by expressing my gratitude to everyone in Warrior Land,” Brown stated.
The 52-year-old Brown will have to erase the 16-year postseason drought that has been the longest in league history. He replaces Luke Walton, the former head coach of the Lakers and top assistant to the Warriors, who was hired by the Kings in 2019 but fired in November.
Just before the Kings concluded with a 30-52 record, Alvin Gentry assumed interim leadership.
It was Sacramento’s lowest winning percentage since the 2017–18 campaign, at.366.
Brown is committed to constructing a reliable winner in the state capital.
“One of the primary roles I was called into was to provide some leadership in a variety of areas,” he remarked. In my thirty years, I’ve played for a lot of different teams. Having a winning culture is something I’ve seen work wonders for organizations, not just in a single year but year after year as well. Leading that field is my responsibility. I believe that every organization has a soul. An organization will function better if its soul is stronger.
Prior to this, Brown was the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers and the Cleveland Cavaliers, leading the latter team to the 2007 NBA Finals.
The Kings have only experienced one successful run since relocating to Sacramento in 1985, when they qualified for the playoffs eight times in a row under head coach Rick Adelman from 1999 to 2006. Adelman, who was sacked in 2006, is still the only head coach to win a championship in any season during the Sacramento era.
Monte McNair, general manager of the Kings, stated, “We conducted a very robust, thorough, comprehensive process in the front office here.” We wanted to make sure the coach we selected was the appropriate one.
After extensive investigation, we determined that three essential elements were necessary: expertise, specifically prior head coaching experience that was effective; relationships, or the capacity to form connections throughout the business; and leadership—both as a head coach and in all we attempt to accomplish.
Brown filled in for Warriors coach Steve Kerr on multiple occasions. The most recent instance occurred when Kerr missed three postseason games due to COVID-19.
It’s time for a new chapter now, one he hopes will result in a regular contender similar to his previous experience.
And after receiving congratulations for the Warriors’ championship, Brown quipped, “Can you say that again?” with his characteristically welcoming smile.
He laughed and said, “I’ve got four.” He held out four fingers.
