Life can come at you fast in the NBA.
The Sacramento Kings have parted ways with head coach Mike Brown after a 13-18 start to the season, ESPN's Shams Charania reported Friday.
Charania later reported that former Raptors shooting guard and current Kings assistant coach Doug Christie will take over in the interim.
Brown won the Coach of the Year award just two seasons ago as he led the Kings to their first playoff berth after a 17-year drought. His first couple seasons even earned the 54-year-old a three-year, $30-million extension that would've kept him in Sacramento through the 2026-27 campaign.
Aside from Rick Adelman, Brown was the only other Kings coach to lead the team to a winning record in any season since the franchise moved to Sacramento in 1985. Brown has a 107-88 record in two-plus seasons in Sacramento with a winning record in both of his full seasons.
Unfortunately for the veteran coach, the allure of his early success has quickly worn off. The Kings missed out on the playoffs last year, getting bounced in the second round of the play-in as the ninth seed, and are on pace for just 34 wins this season, which would've been the lowest since Brown took over.
A middling record, lack of identity and season-worst five-game skid appeared to be enough for the front office to pursue a change in direction.
When the Brown-led Kings were at their peak two years ago, Sacramento was the league's top offence. Yet, through 31 games in 2024-25 the Kings rank 11th in points per game and ninth in offensive rating and remain a middle-of-the-pack defensive bunch.
Things got especially bleak this week as the Kings allowed 70 points in the second half of a 122-95 loss to the Indiana Pacers, and followed it up by blowing a 19-point lead to the Detroit Pistons on Thursday.
Sacramento led by 10 points with less than three minutes to play only to collapse down the stretch. Jaden Ivey converted a four-point play with three seconds left when he made a three-pointer in the right corner and was fouled by De’Aaron Fox. That gave the Pistons a 114-113 win, leaving the Kings in 12th place in the Western Conference.
The Kings have lost an NBA-worst nine games this season after leading in the fourth quarter with the worst one coming in Brown's final game as coach Thursday night against Detroit.
Not what most expected out of a team built around an All-Star pairing of De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis -- and a squad that also added a six-time All-Star in DeMar DeRozan through free agency in the summer.
More change could be on the way in Sacramento as well. Fox's time with the franchise that drafted him fifth overall in 2017 could be nearing an end as the 27-year-old opted not to sign an extension entering the year and is two seasons away from unrestricted free agency.
Rumours have already begun swirling, linking the All-Star guard to teams like the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets should he be dealt.
-- with files from the Associated Press.
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