Less than two years ago, Rick Carlisle praised Mike Brown for winning the NBA Coach of the Year award. On Friday, Carlisle was among many coaches expressing shock, and even anger, over Brown’s firing.
The Sacramento Kings let go of Brown on Friday, despite his back-to-back winning seasons, which was something the team hadn’t achieved in almost 20 years. The Kings were off to a 13-18 start this season and struggled near the Western Conference’s bottom.
“The firing of Mike Brown today was just shocking to me and I’m sure to everyone in our profession — men and women,” said Carlisle, the coach of the Indiana Pacers and president of the National Basketball Coaches Association.
“I had the privilege of working with Mike when I was coaching in Indiana. I see him as one of the role models for integrity in our profession. I’m absolutely shocked by that decision.”
Carlisle shared these thoughts unprompted during his pregame media session before the Pacers played Boston on Friday night. He wasn’t alone in his reaction.
Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone, who was fired by Sacramento in December 2014, called the decision to fire Brown “without class.”
“As an NBA head coach, you’ll get the blame,” Malone said. “When the team wins, it’s because of players like (Domantas) Sabonis and (De’Aaron) Fox. When they lose, it falls on Mike Brown. That’s the way it works.”
Orlando Magic coach Jamahl Mosley, while acknowledging that coaching can be a thankless job, shared his thoughts on Brown’s character and coaching ability.
“He had a record of 107-88 while he was there,” Mosley said. “He changed the culture. And I say this not only as a fellow coach but as a close friend. He’s been a mentor to me. I know how good he is, how much he cares, and how much he’s helped so many of us in this game.”
Brown won the NBA Coach of the Year award unanimously in the 2022-23 season after his first year in Sacramento, leading the Kings to the playoffs for the first time since 2006. Every one of the 100 voters in the panel of reporters and broadcasters placed Brown at the top of their ballot.
Yet, less than two years later, he was fired.
“It’s tough to see,” said New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau, a two-time NBA Coach of the Year like Brown. “It’s part of the business. Mike’s a great person and a great coach. It’s unfortunate.”
Golden State coach Steve Kerr, a close friend and former assistant to Brown, also expressed disappointment. He understood the Kings’ struggles but still found it shocking that Brown was let go after his success.
“We all know that this is the nature of the business,” Kerr said. “But it’s shocking when a guy is the unanimous Coach of the Year a year and a half ago. When you think about where the franchise was before Mike got there… it’s really shocking.”
Brown’s firing marks the ninth coaching change in the NBA in 2024, and the 300th since Gregg Popovich became the league’s longest-tenured coach in San Antonio in 1996. Popovich is currently recovering from a stroke.
Throughout his career, Brown has held four different coaching jobs: head coach in Cleveland, head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, then returning to Cleveland, and most recently, with Sacramento.
“He’ll certainly land on his feet,” Carlisle said. “But when you look at the job he did and the turnaround he led, it’s hard to believe this decision was made. Teams have the right to make decisions like this, but Mike is a great man and a great basketball coach, really one of the pillars of our profession. Anyway, onward.”
