‘Still in shock’: Warriors coach Steve Kerr doesn’t understand why Kings fired Mike Brown
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr still can’t figure out why the Sacramento Kings fired Mike Brown.
Kerr weighed in on Brown’s dismissal before the Warriors played host to the Kings on Sunday at Chase Center in San Francisco.
“Mike and I have spoken, and obviously all of that remains private, but Mike’s a great friend and a great coach,” Kerr said. “I’m still in shock with the Kings coming here tonight, in shock that he got fired (considering) the job he’s done the last couple years, where that team is, where that franchise is now compared to when he came aboard.”
Brown spent six seasons as Kerr’s lead assistant with the Warriors before the Kings hired him as their head coach in May 2022. Brown orchestrated a massive turnaround in his first season, leading the Kings to 48 wins and their first playoff appearance since 2006.
The Kings lost to the Warriors in a memorable seven-game series, but the city rejoiced as they ended the longest playoff drought in NBA history after 16 consecutive losing seasons. Brown was named NBA Coach of the Year for the second time in his career, becoming the first unanimous winner of the award
Sacramento failed to reach the playoffs in Brown’s second season. The Kings beat the Warriors in the first round of the play-in tournament before suffering a season-ending loss to the New Orleans Pelicans.
There were high hopes in Sacramento this season after the Kings added DeMar DeRozan to a group that already included De’Aaron Fox, Malik Monk, Keegan Murray and Domantas Sabonis, but the team has failed to meet expectations. Brown was fired Dec. 27 after the Kings lost five in a row to fall to 13-18.
Still, Kerr doesn’t understand the decision to fire Brown, and there has been no explanation from Kings owner Vivek Ranadive, general manager Monte McNair or assistant general manager Wes Wilcox.
“We all go through stretches,” Kerr said. “We just lost 12 out of 15. Everybody in the league goes through stretches. Miami just lost by 35 at home to Utah. Miami’s not firing Erik Spoelstra. All of these issues that we face as organizations, it’s a group effort and we all share blame when things go wrong. I just have a really hard time understanding, with what Mike has done there, how that move was made, but it was made, so I’ll leave it at that.”
This story was originally published January 5, 2025 at 7:12 PM.
