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Kings' Mike Brown wins NBCA Coach of the Year
Mike Brown had to wait eight years for a head coach job. Now he's Coach of the Year.
ESPN Sources: After leading one of the league’s most dramatic recent turnarounds, Sacramento Kings coach Mike Brown has been voted the National Basketball Coaches Association’s Coach of the Year: https://t.co/oyb4ogbfFj
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 13, 2023
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.
Mike Brown pic.twitter.com/hriXBLgMf0
— Oh no he didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) December 15, 2022
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.
Mike Brown answering a barbaric yelp from across the room: pic.twitter.com/u5VCCxGwAV
— James Ham (@James_HamNBA) September 26, 2022
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NBA Hall of Famer working toward becoming a head coach
Tony Parker is hoping to find his way back to the NBA, this time as a coach, writes David Loriot for L’Equipe (h/t Marca). This involves enrolling in a coaching course, according to Kevin Martorano of Sportando. Parker, the 18-year NBA veteran, four-time champion, 2007 NBA Finals MVP and Hall of Famer, has been president of the French team ASVEL since 2014. In that time, the team has rostered NBA players such as Guerschon Yabusele and former No. 1 overall picks Victor Wembanyama and Zaccharie Risacher. Now, though, Parker says he wants to step away from his front-office position and familiarize himself with the rigors of coaching life. “My dream is to coach in the NBA,” Parker said in an interview with L’Equipe. To do so, Parker is working to obtain his DESJEPS degree, or Higher State Diploma of Youth, Popular Education and Sport, along with a secondary degree, the DEPB or Professional Basketball Coach Diploma, which he will likely receive in May 2026. After Parker was a surprise guest for the ASVEL under-15 team on Thursday, running the team through training, he spoke on what that experience meant to him. “It confirms what I’ve been feeling since last year: I missed the court,” he said. “The adrenaline, the daily grind, I missed all of that. I think it’s the right timing for me. I’ve been retired from sport for six years and I feel it inside me.” In the lead-up to this decision, Parker said he spoke with his former coach Gregg Popovich, as well as French sports legends Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry, all of whom imparted advice. “Last October, after my first discussion with Pop, I felt this strong desire. I asked him for advice, the Spurs opened the doors to me in January, February, March, where I was able to observe everything over seven or ten days,” he said, before adding that Zidane and Henry helped convince him to obtain his coaching degree. “I don’t need it to coach in the NBA,” Parker reflected with a smile. “But I said to myself, why not go back to school?” Parker added that he’s been approached by several clubs (presumably NBA teams), but that he preferred to get his diploma, and then to pursue a path that could eventually end with him being the head coach of an NBA team. He also wouldn’t rule out the desire to helm the French national team. “Everyone knows that I’m friends with [French national team coach Freddy Fauthoux], I love him, he’s my guy! But in the very long term, why not,” Parker mused. “It’s clear that if you embark on this career, one day, you’ll want to coach the French team, that’s for sure. But before that, I have so many things to do.”
Jets coaches try to calm situation in wake of Justin Fields' comments
According to Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk, New York Jets starting quarterback Justin Fields did not throw a pass that traveled 10 yards in the air during his two preseason appearances. Some have voiced concerns about the Jets' passing attack with Fields in the lineup, but he insisted while speaking with reporters on Tuesday that he's "fine with taking eight-yard completions every play." On Wednesday, Jets offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand addressed Fields' comment. "He's going to play the play the way the defense allows him to play it," Engstrand said about Fields, per Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic. "So if they're going to allow him to take a shot down the field, he's going to take it. If they don't allow him, he's going to check the ball down, and we'll move on to the next play. We're all good with that." Fields completed just one of five passes for four yards in the Jets' 31-12 loss to the New York Giants on Saturday. According to Fox Sports, he connected on four of nine pass attempts for 46 yards across his first two preseason appearances of the summer. Despite such lackluster numbers, first-year Jets head coach Aaron Glenn suggested on Tuesday that he is ignoring "the noise that happens on the outside" regarding the team's passing offense. On Wednesday, Jets passing game coordinator Scott Turner praised Fields for knowing when to take a checkdown and when to challenge an opposing defense. "I think you've seen a lot of quarterbacks in this league, Josh Allen pops into mind, who really cut down his turnovers last year and won MVP by not always trying to make the big huge play, but make the right play. Justin has done a nice job with that," Turner said. ESPN stats show that Fields averaged 6.9 yards per pass attempt over six starts and 10 appearances with the Pittsburgh Steelers last season. Per Pro Football Reference, 22 qualified quarterbacks had a better yards per pass attempt average for the 2024 campaign. Dan Graziano of ESPN noted Wednesday that the $10M guaranteed that the Jets owe Fields for 2026 "won't prevent them from" looking for an upgrade at the position next year if he doesn't make "a major leap as a passer." It's still early into this experiment, but there's no sign that such a leap is coming anytime soon.
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Phillies get terrible injury news on ace starting pitcher
The Philadelphia Phillies received the update they did not want to hear on Saturday. Starting pitcher Zack Wheeler is going to miss the remainder of the 2025 season due to thoracic outlet syndrome, the team announced. He will have surgery to correct the issue with a recovery time of six to eight months. There is no way to sugarcoat this for the Phillies — this is brutal news and a potentially crushing blow to their World Series chances in the National League. While they still have a strong rotation and two excellent front-line starters in Cristopher Sanchez and Ranger Suarez, Wheeler is their unquestioned ace and has been one of the best overall pitchers in the National League since he joined the Phillies prior to the 2020 season. The Phillies are still pretty much a playoff lock at this point and entered the weekend with a six-game lead over the New York Mets in the National League East standings. But taking a front-line starter away from them this late in the season is going to be impossible to replace. With Wheeler, Sanchez and Suarez, they would have had a fierce trio to throw at teams in a short series (or a best-of-seven series) that could have stacked up with anybody. Sanchez and Suarez are still going to give them a great chance, but it's definitely not what they wanted. Prior to Saturday's announcement, Wheeler had a 2.71 ERA and was leading the league in both strikeouts (195) and strikeouts per nine innings (11.7) pitched. He also has the lowest WHIP (walks/hits per innings pitched) in the league (.935).
Raiders, Vikings Could Work Out Trade After Aidan O’Connell Injury
The Minnesota Vikings sent the 142nd overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft to the Seattle Seahawks for Sam Howell and the 172nd overall pick, but the quarterback may not even make the Week 1 roster. With roster cuts right around the corner, nobody should be too surprised if Minnesota cuts the former late-round pick and moves forward with a different option behind J.J. McCarthy. McCarthy is clearly entrenched atop the depth chart, and undrafted free agent Max Brosmer has played well against admittedly weak competition. While entrusting him to be the full-time backup would be dangerous, he might not make it through waivers if the team cuts him. He’d be an ideal third quarterback for the 2025 season with the potential to grow into a long-term backup. Sam Howell, however, has struggled for the Vikings. While he had a good drive or two, the overall body of work leaves a lot to be desired. Minnesota recently brought in Carson Wentz for a visit, and he’d be a capable QB2 for the season. Cutting Howell would be surprising, but perhaps they could trade him to the Las Vegas Raiders to be their backup quarterback while Aidan O’Connell recovers from a wrist injury. Vikings, Raiders Could Agree to Aidan O’Connell Trade Aidan O’Connell is not a starting-caliber quarterback, but he is one of the league’s better backups. The former fourth-round pick has started 17 games over the past two seasons, going 7-10 on a weak roster while completing 62.6% of his passes for 3,830 yards, 20 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. Again, he’s clearly an inferior option to Geno Smith, but he’s more than capable of filling in and keeping the offense afloat. Unfortunately, he’s going to miss some time thanks to a wrist injury sustained in the preseason finale. Reports indicate he will miss 6-8 weeks with this injury, and Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team reports Vegas will look for a new quarterback. Howell could be the ideal choice, as Cam Miller is the only other quarterback on the roster. Much like O’Connell, Howell is not a starting-caliber quarterback in this league, but he possesses starting experience. The fifth-round pick led the Washington Commanders in 2023, starting all 17 games while finishing the year with 3,946 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 21 interceptions. Again, there’s a reason he spent the 2024 season as a backup, but he could be a valuable insurance policy for a team that believes they can compete in 2025.
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