The Denver Nuggets have plenty of their own issues to worry about. There is much on the mind of head coach Michael Malone and his veteran staff. Still, he couldn’t help but take a moment on Friday to weigh in on the fate of one of his colleagues around the NBA.
Mired in a 5-game losing streak, the Sacramento Kings fired head coach Mike Brown on Friday. Brown took over a Kings team in 2022 that hadn’t finished with a winning record or made the playoffs in 15 years and promptly led them to a 48-win season and a playoff berth, earning Coach of the Year honors along the way.
Brown followed it up last season with a 46-34 record, but the Kings failed to get out of the play-in tournament in a loaded Western Conference. Ambitions were lofty coming into this season as the team signed DeMar DeRozan, but things haven’t exactly gelled in Sacramento.
After an ugly 13-18 start to the season, the Kings pulled the plug on Brown. They’ll turn the keys over to former player Doug Christie who will take over as interim coach. Many around the NBA were quick to weigh in on the situation, coming out strongly in favor of Brown (one of the most respected coaches in the league) and perhaps even more strongly against the Kings.
Malone rips Kings apart for firing of Brown
One of the loudest critics of the Kings was one of their former employees, Michael Malone. Malone was hired as head coach of the Kings in 2013 but was fired shortly into his second season with the team. He was hired by the Nuggets that summer and the rest is history.
On Friday, Malone was interviewed before the Nuggets game with the Cavaliers and had some harsh words for his former bosses and their handling of the Brown situation.
“I’m not surprised that Mike Brown got fired because I got fired by the same person. And what really pissed me off about it was the fact that they lost last night, fifth game in a row, I believe. Tough loss, fouling a jump shooter.”
“They had practiced this morning. He does his postgame media, and he’s in his car going to the airport to fly to LA and they call him on the phone. No class, no balls. That’s what I’ll say about that.”
Michael Malone blasts the Kings for firing Mike Brown: "No balls. No class."
— DNVR Nuggets (@DNVR_Nuggets) December 28, 2024
Malone says Brown was fired over the phone on his way to the airport for the Kings' next game.
"I'm not surprised that Mike Brown got fired, because I got fired by the same person." pic.twitter.com/LoE4XKsvzQ
Most likely don’t view the Kings as one of the model franchises in pro sports but it’s still pretty shocking to see Malone and others come out this aggressively. He clearly has his problems with Vivek Ranadive, owner of the Kings, and the way he runs the organization and he has no issue airing out those grievances publicly.
It’s a bold move, but it’s a sentiment that seems to be a generally shared consensus sentiment around the league. The Kings have handled this whole situation awfully. Firing the best and most professional coach the team has had in years over a rough stretch, clearly scapegoating him to cover the team’s many issues is bad enough.
But to do so in such an unprofessional manner makes it even worse. Throw in the fact that star player, De’Aaron Fox has recently hired a new agent, Rich Paul, who has quickly applied pressure on the organization to improve the team.
Whether it’s kowtowing to Paul and Fox or simple organizational dysfunction, it’s yet another embarrassing move in a long line of them for one of the NBA’s saddest franchises.