LOS ANGELES — The NBA’s teaching carousel took its first flip of the 2024-25 season on Friday, and it hit near house for Steve Kerr and the Warriors.
“When you think about where that franchise was before Mike got there and where they’ve been the last couple years, the job he and his staff have done — it’s just really shocking,” Kerr stated earlier than Golden State’s recreation towards the Clippers. “I know they’ve been in a tough spell, but this is the NBA. We all go through tough spells.”
Brown received the 2023 NBA Coach of the 12 months award by unanimous vote after he helped Sacramento break its 17-year postseason drought. Lower than two years later, he’s out of a job.
The Kings fired Brown six months right into a three-year, $25.5 million contract extension. Sacramento is 13-18 on the season and has misplaced 12 of its final 17 video games — a slide that sank to its nadir with a brutal last-second loss to the Pistons on Thursday evening.
In Brown’s final recreation teaching the Kings, his staff botched its situational protection within the waning moments of an epic collapse. Up three factors, Brown instructed his staff to foul earlier than a Detroit participant might shoot a 3, and hug shooters across the arc realizing {that a} two-pointer couldn’t hurt them. As an alternative, star level guard De’Aaron Fox performed assist protection and needed to shut out within the nook, fouling Jaden Ivey for the game-winning four-point play.
Brown realized of his firing after he led Sacramento’s apply and as he was heading to the airport for the Kings’ Saturday recreation towards the Lakers. As an alternative, Doug Christie will function interim head coach for that recreation and going ahead. He’s the Kings’ seventh coach since Vivek Ranadive purchased the staff in 2013.
Nuggets coach Mike Malone, a kind of seven former coaches, blasted the firing.
“No class, no balls,” Malone stated.
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle opened his pregame press convention with an announcement, calling Brown one of many “standard bearers for integrity for our profession.”
Brown coached beneath Kerr with the Warriors for six seasons, a span that included three NBA championships. He received credited with a lot of the Warriors’ defensive evolution, together with holding gamers accountable with nightly report playing cards.
Kerr and Brown are shut pals and talked on the telephone after the Kings made their resolution. Brown coached Kerr in San Antonio as an assistant they usually’ve recognized one another for many years.
“It’s not easy, this job,” Kerr stated. “This business is pretty rough. I feel terribly for Mike today.”
Current Coach of the 12 months winners Brown (2023), Monty Williams (2022), Nick Nurse (2020), Mike Budenholzer (2019), and Dwane Casey (2018) every received fired — usually quickly after successful the award. That’s 5 of the eight Coaches of the 12 months since Kerr received the dignity in 2016.
Kerr is the third longest tenured lively coach, behind solely Erik Spoelstra and Gregg Popovich.
“We all kind of know this is the nature of this business,” Kerr stated. “I just know that I feel very fortunate to work in an organization that really values continuity and that allows our team and our staff and our group to get through the rough patches. Because every team in the league is going to face these rough stretches like we’re going through right now. I know I’m probably the exception rather than the rule when it comes to organizational support and continuity. That doesn’t mean it’s going to last forever, but it means I’m very lucky to coach here and work for this organization.”
Harm report
– Each Steph Curry and Draymond Inexperienced are out towards the Clippers. Curry is managing lingering knee points and should not play in each ends of back-to-backs so long as the ailment persists. Inexperienced, in the meantime, is listed as out with a low again contusion.
– The Warriors play the Suns at 5 p.m. on the Chase Heart on Saturday; Curry and Inexperienced are prone to return then for the fast turnaround.
– Gary Payton II (calf pressure) will probably be re-evaluated in every week, per the staff.
– Clippers star Kawhi Leonard has but to make his season debut. The Athletic reported that the Clippers are focusing on Jan. 4 for his return from a nagging knee harm.
