Breaking down how Mike Brown’s firing exposes deeper issues within the Sacramento Kings’ organization, from poor leadership to lack of accountability

Malone wasn't the only shocked coach who had a press conference today. Brown's former assistant, and now a head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, Jordi Fernandez, was also surprised.

"It's sad news. I don't like it. It's part of the business," Fernandez told the media. "A year and a half ago he's Coach of the Year and now this situation happens" . The Indiana Pacers head coach, Rick Carlisle, also had something to say. "The firing of Mike Brown today was just shocking to me," he gave his insight on the situation. "I view him as one of the standard bearers for integrity for our profession, and I'm just just absolutely shocked."

The Sacramento Kings' history of dysfunction

Still, everyone is shocked, but the Kings fans aren't, and it is a constant. Everyone was shocked when the Kings made a blockbuster trade that sent a young and promising guard, Tyrese Haliburton, to the Pacers and brought Domantas Sabonis to back up De'Aaron Fox. The Kings fans were celebrating the move that would propel them to the playoffs and finally bring a little sun to the basketball hell of the Golden 1 Center. Someone had to go soon after a slow start to the season, but few names seemed likelier than Brown's.

Monte McNair joined the Kings in 2021, and one of his first decisions was to keep Luke Walton as a head coach. It wasn't a good decision; it wasn't even a bad one; it was a terrible decision. Just 17 games into the next season, Walton was fired, and Alvin Gentry took the charge and led the Kings to an even worse season than Walton just the season before. Walton had enough chances to prove himself, but he never delivered, and nobody knew why McNair kept him.

Finally, McNair redeemed himself when he hired Brown, brought Sabonis, Kevin Huerter, and Malik Monk, and assembled a decent roster that was the third seed in the 2022-23 season. He even drafted Keegan Murray, who wasn't really the most beloved prospect at the time, and that proved to be a home run for the Kings, who lacked a playable wing player for some time, except Harrison Barnes. The roster lacked defensive-minded presence and height, but the core was there to build on, but everything stopped.

Everyone waited for the next big addition. Jerami Grant, Kyle Kuzma, and Ben Simmons were the names that were floated among the media. Still, everything stayed on rumors, and the biggest wing addition the Kings had was Sasha Vezenkov, who left the team just a season later and returned to Olympiacos.

Once again, the Kings were on a hunt for a player who would help Murray and Sabonis protect the rim. And the Kings were surprised once again—well, maybe they weren't surprised because they made another bad decision. McNair brought Jalen McDaniels as a much-needed frontcourt player. That was such a bad decision that it required draft stock to fix it.

McDaniels never played a game as the King. He was traded to the San Antonio Spurs alongside a draft pick, and everything was pretty much the same in the Kings' frontcourt. The Kings still lack that guy who will push them further up the standings. DeMar DeRozan was their guy this offseason, and while he didn't do anything bad, he didn't solve already-present problems.

Maybe McNair isn't adept at the situation he found himself in, maybe it is someone above him, or maybe it has been Ranadive the whole time. The Kings' owner has been known around the league as the guy who likes to interfere in team operations. His knowledge isn't on the same level as his curiosity, but he never gave up. He has been a constant presence in every bad decision the Kings made over the years.

Nonetheless, Brown isn't innocent either. He is a veteran coach who was successful before the Kings as a head coach and assistant coach on a few teams. He is a two-time Coach of the Year, but he has been fired a couple of times already. His every stint started off well, but after a few seasons, he couldn't make a final step to win the championship. He was really close with the Cleveland Cavaliers when LeBron James first joined the team, but they lost the NBA Finals series.

The same thing happened with the Kings. His first season was amazing by Sacramento standards, but he couldn't deliver next season when they lost in the Playoff game against the New Orleans Pelicans, and this season was a disaster for them. From the first game, the Kings looked like a team without leadership and chemistry.

Brown consistently struggled with his rotations. He started Huerter as a shooting guard alongside Fox and DeRozan in front of a young defensive pest, Keon Ellis, who was put in the doghouse numerous times without much explanation. For a team whose defense is pretty bad, not playing Ellis, one of the best defenders in the league, is just weird, and it didn't change in the first 28 games.

Even Monk got a chance to be a constant starter in front of him, and the Kings looked even worse in those games when Huerter was out with an injury and later benched in favor of Monk.

Brown's in-game decisions were equally bad as those before the game. The Kings have lost a record of 13 clutch games this season, with the last one being his last, against the Detroit Pistons. They lost a game that they led by three points just before the final shot. The game didn't go to overtime; the Kings lost on a four-point play when Fox fouled a player taking a three-point shot.

Leadership vacuum: The root of the Kings' struggles

Last but not least, some of the fault goes to the players—maybe even more than just some of it. Fox has been their cornerstone for eight years now, and while he is constantly developing and looking better with each season, something is missing. His will is questionable. Everybody knows he is a quality star who can be among the best players when he wants to, and he willed the Kings to some wins over the last few seasons.

His offense looks better every day, and his defense is the best ever, but he didn't become a star overnight. No, he had that in him for quite some time, but he never really showed it before Brown came. Fox was statistically a pretty bad defender for a couple of seasons because he willingly played with half of his energy. Then the Kings traded Haliburton, and he finally saw that they were all in on him and gave his best. Still, he has been an up-and-down leader of a crumbling locker room this season.

The Kings lack strong leadership on every level, and all the players on the roster feel like kittens. The only roar in that arena is Slamson's, their official mascot. That is ironic because they sometimes have a lion on their logo. Lack of leadership and accountability are what led to this firing.

From the owner, who doesn't take the blame, to a couple of general managers who can't admit their mistakes, and to players who don't show up to the press conferences after a bad loss, no one except the coaches is held accountable, and that is the worst thing in this whole situation. The next head coach will be brought in, and he will probably be fired for someone else's mistakes.