Kings fire head coach Mike Brown

Kings fire head coach Mike Brown

Amid a very poor 13-18 start, the Sacramento Kings have fired head coach Mike Brown, ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania was among the first to report Friday.

The Kings are losers of five straight and 12 of their last 17; they are currently 13-18, three games back of Phoenix, Minnesota and Golden State–who are tied for the No. 8 seed–and 4.5 games back of the Los Angeles Lakers for the No. 6 seed.

Brown has repeatedly lamented the team’s (defensive) breakdowns after games during this disastrous stretch–yet they haven’t been fixed. The third-year Kings head coach even called out star guard De’Aaron Fox after an incredibly poor closeout that granted a game-winning four-point play for Detroit Pistons guard Jaden Ivey on Thursday.

It’s been a weird year for Brown on the sidelines. The team hasn’t been cohesive all season; there’s been a disconnect, and it’s difficult to decipher because you and I aren’t privy to those conversations behind closed doors. But it existed.

That said, whether he was the perfect fit or not, firing a head coach after he tried to hold his best player accountable because of a very crucial mistake isn’t a good look, point blank. That is terrible optics.

Let’s not forget that Brown also signed a three-year, $30 million extension with the organization in June. Typically, the head coach is the first one to fall on the sword, but Brown is two years removed from helping lead Sacramento to their first-ever postseason appearance in nearly two decades. He’s also the only unanimous Coach of the Year award winner in NBA History.

Firing him solves nothing, and it’s not going to solve anything until there’s more organizational structure from top-to-bottom. That starts at the top with ownership and trickles down to every last player. If Brown can’t hold his players accountable, then who can?

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This is a breaking news story. Stay tuned for updates.

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