NBA
Sacramento Kings Hire Mike Brown As New Head Coach
May 8, 2022, 4:00 PM | Updated: 4:36 pm
(Associated Press)
(Associated Press)
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Sacramento Kings have reached an agreement with current Golden State Warriors assistant coach Mike Brown to become the team’s new head coach.
Brown, 52, coached the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers to a 305-187 (.620) record during his six seasons with the team that included five postseason berths and an appearance in the 2007 NBA Finals.
During the 2011-12 season, Brown coached the Los Angeles Lakers to a Pacific Division championship and first-round series victory over the Denver Nuggets. Brown was fired just five games into the 2012-13 season in what was the third-fastest coaching change in NBA history.
Since the beginning of the 2016-17 season, Brown has been an integral part of a Warriors coaching staff that has won two championships and been one of the greatest basketball dynasties in recent memory.
Brown has had a large hand in crafting a Warriors defense that finished the 2021-22 season with a league-best 106.9 defensive rating and ranked third in opponent points per game (105.5).
“Mike is very, very prideful of defense,” Warriors guard Klay Thompson said in an interview with The San Francisco Chronicle in February.
“He’s like a secondary head coach. Coached us throughout that time in the 2017 playoffs. Coached the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Finals. He’s been around some of the greatest to play the game. This might technically be a new role for him this season. But really, it’s nothing he hasn’t done before.”
Defense must be a priority for the Sacramento Kings this summer as the team finished the 2021-22 season with the 27th-worst defensive rating and allowed nearly 116 points per game–bad enough to rank 29th in opponent points per game.
Brown will look to become the first Kings head coach to lead Sacramento to the postseason since Hall of Fame coach Rick Adelman last did so during the 2005-06 season.
This story is currently being updated.
