Mike Brown's prophetic comments revisited after Sacramento Kings firing

"I won’t be here 50 years as the head coach" - Mike Brown's prophetic comments revisited after Sacramento Kings firing

Modified Dec 28, 2024 15:46 GMT

NBA: Indiana Pacers at Sacramento Kings - Source: Imagn — NBA: Indiana Pacers at Sacramento Kings (image credit: IMAGN)

In the 2022-23 season, Mike Brown helped the Sacramento Kings end the longest active playoff drought in the NBA. He also became the first coach to be unanimously named Coach of the Year.

Now, he's unemployed.

However, he already hinted about the end of his tenure with the team as he knew that there were no guarantees in his line of business.

“I won’t be here 50 years as the head coach of the Sacramento Kings, although I’d love it,” Brown said in 2023, via The Athletic. “So for me, if something was to end for me, as long as I can look in the mirror and I can honestly tell myself that I tried to do the best I could for this team, then I’m gonna be OK with it.”

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The Kings are struggling with consistency this season. This has always been a short-memory business, so Brown wasn't surprised to see the same people who vouched for him no longer supporting him.

“When you go through adverse times, you know who was truly there for you,” Brown said on Friday. “People will jump off the bandwagon quick. The support, wherever it may come from, it may not always be there.”

The Kings have also been dealing with some injuries lately. Domantas Sabonis has been forced to miss time during their five-game losing skid, and all the trade rumors surrounding De'Aaron Fox have not helped their case.

Entering the season, fans had high expectations for Brown and the Kings, especially after getting DeMar DeRozan in the offseason. However, the team is 13-18 and 12th in the Western Conference.

Steve Kerr has Mike Brown's back

Several colleagues have spoken in Mike Brown's defense. Former Kings coach Michael Malone said that the organization had "no class and no balls" and Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr echoed a similar sentiment.

"Very disappointed to hear the news," Kerr said on Friday. "I know they've been in a tough spell, but this is the NBA, we all go through tough spells. I feel very fortunate to work in an organization that values continuity and that allows our team and our staff and our group to get through the rough patches."

Longtime Kings assistant Doug Christie has been named interim coach. He is the eighth coach of the team since Vivek Ranadive took over as owner in the 2013-14 season.

About the author

Ernesto Cova is a journalist at Sportskeeda with a PhD in Sports Psychology. His education helped him develop a clearer understanding of the sports world as a whole, including basketball. Ernesto has over eight years of experience in the field, working for Fadeaway World, The Inquisitr, NBA Blast, The Cold Wire and Bolavip, among others.

His favorite team is the Chicago Bulls because of the Michael Jordan era. Jordan is Ernesto's all-time favorite, as he changed the game forever. Ernesto's second favorite was Kobe Bryant because he embodied that same competitive fire and Ernesto watched him play throughout his entire career. Nowadays, Ernesto really likes Stephen Curry, who he believes to be the most influential player of the past 15 years or so.

Ernesto's favorite basketball moment was when Venezuela -- his country -- took down Canada to take home the 2015 FIBA Americas Cup.

When not watching or writing about basketball, Ernesto likes to read and is interested in photography.

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Edited by Victor Ramon Galvez