Kings' Mike Brown wins NBCA Coach of the Year

In his first year in Sacramento, Brown led the Kings to an 18-game improvement and their first trip to the playoffs since 2006. Brown got All-Star seasons from De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis, and coached the Kings to the NBA's top offense on their way to the third seed in the Western Conference.

This award is separate from the NBA's Coach of the Year award, which is voted on by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. The NBCA is the union for NBA head coaches, assistants and alumni, who began giving out their own Coach of the Year trophy in 2017. Each head coach votes for one coach other than themselves for the award.

Brown won the NBA's award in 2009 after leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 66-16 record. This is his first NBCA award, which went to Monty Williams of the Phoenix Suns the last two seasons.

Sacramento has had a totally different identity under Brown, who has demanded accountability from his players as well as from NBA referees. He calls out his players while also always having their backs. Like campaigning for Keegan Murray to make the All-Rookie team or when he got himself ejected from a game against Toronto to protest foul calls and ended up inspiring the Kings to victory.

Brown won three rings as an assistant for the Golden State Warriors from 2016-22. He went 13-0 as acting head coach during the 2016-17 playoffs, filling in for Steve Kerr, and won a playoff game last season when Kerr tested positive for COVID-19 before Game 4 of their second-round series.

Now he'll face his old team in the first round of the playoffs in what should be a very loud series in Sacramento. Brown's ready for the yelling.