The Sacramento Kings fired head coach Mike Brown on Friday afternoon.

While they’ve certainly underperformed this season, the general consensus appears to be that Brown wasn’t the entire issue. He was far from perfect this season and had his fair share of mistakes, but considering the amount of head coach turnover this organization has had in recent memory, some of the blame undoubtedly has to fall on the team’s management and players at this point.

Many people with ties to the Kings organization have spoken out about the firing. Two former head coaches have made public comments on the matter. George Karl who coached the team from 2015-16 took to X to voice his opinion:

Meanwhile, current Denver Nuggets coach Mike Malone, who was on the sidelines forthe  Kings from 2013-2014 spoke to the media about his opinion on the matter:

Even Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors was surprised by the move and spoke about it during his media availability:

Brown is a two-time NBA coach of the year, winning the accolade with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2009, before winning it with Sacramento in 2023. Considering Brown was extended by the Kings in the summer, it seems clear that the organization believed he had things on the right track. Drama surrounding star guard De’Aaron Fox certainly didn’t make his job easy though, and it’s hard to imagine any other coach could’ve done a better job.

Doug Christie will take over as the interim coach, however he will have a very difficult situation to handle in his first NBA head coaching gig. Brown’s falling out with the team’s leadership, namely Fox, is a big part of the reason he found himself on the hot seat. As a result, until management makes a decision on Fox’s future with the organization and what direction they’ll go in general, Christie seems set up for failure.