Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown has the receipts at the ready ahead of his team's first playoff appearance in over a decade-and-a-half.
Appearing this week on the “#thisleague UNCUT” podcast with Chris Haynes and Marc Stein, the Kings coach Brown revealed that he is using an interesting motivational tactic for his team with the NBA playoffs imminent. Brown said that he played them a clip of ESPN’s Brian Windhorst talking about how opponents want to face the Kings in the first round.
The clip cited Sacramento's inexperience, as well as their poor defensive metrics. It also mentioned specifically the defending champion Golden State Warriors as a team that might like to draw a playoff matchup with the upstart Kings. You can listen to the clip (as well as Brown talking about it) below.
Sacramento does have a ranking of just 25th in defensive efficiency this season (per ESPN) and a roster with little-to-no playoff exposure -- other than that of Kevin Hueter (who made the Eastern Conference Finals with Atlanta in 2021) and former NBA champion Harrison Barnes. In fact, one Warriors star recently said publicly that he hopes his team draws the Kings in Round 1.
As Brown hinted toward, teams should be careful of what they wish for. Sacramento, a superb 47-30 this season, has a high-paced and high-octane offense that can run opponents off the floor on any given night. They also have a homecourt advantage that is legitimately nothing to sneeze at.
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