Sacramento Kings blunder: Firing the one guy who was angry about their pathetic play | Opinion

The Kings letting go of Mike Brown should send a shock wave throughout the fanbase.

On Friday, after a terrible loss to the Detriot Pistons, the organization decided to part ways with Mike Brown. He leaves the post with a record of 107-88. Brown is only one of two coaches to lead the Kings to winning seasons in nearly 40 years of mostly dismal play in Sacramento.

Opinion

The sad thing about this move is that it follows the trend that the Kings have had this entire season: ignore the root of the problem.

The Kings have no fire.

A wild loss

They allowed the Pistons to score 31 points in the final seven minutes, including a clutch four-point game-winning play from Jaden Ivey with 3.1 seconds remaining. It was made possible by two huge mental errors by the supposed Kings leader, DeAaron Fox who left Idey unguarded and then made the even bigger mistake of fouling him, which opened the door the Pistons winner.

Fox was the one who fouled Ivey.

After the loss, Fox was asked about what the team needed to do to improve.

“I don’t know,” Fox said. He took no accountability. He seems as happy to be a King as a wet cat.

Brown, however, was candid about the team’s play on Thursday.

“Tough loss that at worst, should’ve gone into overtime, at worst,” Brown said. He added that he was confused with Fox’s decision to play defense which gave Ivey a way to shoot a three.

The loss on Thursday was a sad display of a team that wanted to look to the referees for a bailout rather than playing physically and earning the win. Getting rid of Brown removes any sense of accountability that the team had.

Yet the Kings felt that letting go of the man who gave them success that had evaded them was a good idea.

It makes no sense to fire the guy who agreed to stay, over addressing the poor play of Fox, who decided to decline an extension.

Bad time to be a Kings fan

This firing is a sign that the Kings will be going the “let’s blame the coaching” route, instead of addressing the key issue of a bench that is one of the worst in the NBA and a team that has been dealing with injuries.

The Kings require an overhaul; their roster lacks the height, length, athleticism, and intensity that fans observe in the opposing teams that consistently defeat them. It’s no surprise they have a 6-12 record at home, and a significant portion of this can be attributed to GM Monte McNair. Free agency is always tough for the Kings as Sacramento is not a destination city for NBA players.

If they truly want to resurrect a season nearly doomed, they need to make a splash before the trade deadline. But does McNair even have the trust within the organization to make meaningful moves?

Now, with an interim coach, they face the Lakers in Los Angeles on Saturday the midst of a five-game losing streak. They are slowly falling behind in the Western Conference rankings. In Mike Brown, they fired the only guy who seemed upset about all of this. Owner Vivek Ranadive can’t be fired and, at least for now, neither can McNair, Fox or any of the other underperforming players who have shown little heart when it mattered most.

We’ll find out soon if the Kings booted the wrong guy.