Every year, the National Basketball Coaches Association votes and recognizes one of their own as Coach of the Year. This year, that man is first year Sacramento Kings coach Mike Brown. Mike Budenholzer (MIL), Mark Daigneault (OKC), Joe Mazzulla (BOS), and Tom Thibodeau (NYK) also received votes.
NBCA President and Pacers Head Coach Rick Carlisle had this to say:
“Congratulations to Mike Brown on one of the greatest coaching jobs we’ve ever seen in this league. He completely changed the attitude and vibe of the Kings franchise and fan base, launching them into an amazing new era of success.”
Mike Brown led the Kings to their first playoff appearance in 17 years in just his first season as Head Coach. He is the only Sacramento-era Kings coach aside from Rick Adelman to win more than 40 games in a season, with the Kings finishing 48-34 (an 18 game improvement on the prior year) and winning the Pacific Division title for just the third time in their history.
Coach Brown released the following statement upon receipt of the award:
“Receiving this award from my peers is especially meaningful and an honor that I truly embrace. We have an incredible group of head coaches in the NBA, all of whom deserve to be recognized for their leadership as they execute their craft at the highest level every day. This award is incredibly special in my first year with the Kings. It is a reflection of the caliber of men that Monte McNair and Wes Wilcox have assembled and who I have absolutely loved coaching. I also want to recognize our medical staff, who have been an integral ingredient to our success and worked tirelessly to maximize our players’ health throughout the year. Additionally, our coaching staff has been invaluable in supporting our organization and working with my obsession for perfection. Lastly, this recognition is especially meaningful to me because it honors the legacy of Michael Goldberg – a personal friend who worked tirelessly for NBA coaches, always doing so with integrity and class.”
Note that this is different than the NBA’s official Coach of the Year award, which will be announced later during the 2023 NBA Playoffs and is voted on by media members. Brown is heavily favored to win that award as well.
Vivek, you magnificent bastard, you’ve done it again (for the first time)!
(yes, that is a broken clock)
Ha. Though Vivwreck wanted M Jackson most likely.
Didnt see Brown thanking V, because Monte is the decision maker it seems.
Really like Mike.
Coach Vivek?
“Alright, good play guys. Now one of you stay behind on this side of the court. Come on, fellas. Positionless! Let your culture do the talking!”
Ha. One of the most unaware/oblivious (maybe he knows) to his ego amd flaws.
Let’s hope that in his quest to claim credit for this year’s success, Vivek doesn’t “drop the Mike”!
Can you imagine if Coach Brown’s statement after winning this had been like a Vivek statement?
Brown didn’t acknowledge Vivek in his little speech there.
I give him one, two more years, tops.
Thankfully he started meddling.
“CORTI BROTHERS on me, Mike. Let’s go!”
Well-deserved. Such a class act. Hope he sticks around for a long time.
He seems truly at home here. This gig was like his destiny. Mutual adoration between him and this fanbase. Definitely hope he’s around for a long time.
Cheers and well deserved. This franchise needed every bit of what Coach Brown brought to Sacramento, its great to see the team where its at today after all these years. Glad he’s getting all the recognition he deserves!
Congrats Coach Brown! The Kings coaching job is difficult to succeed at, well-deserved.
After years of trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, we finally found our match. I’m so glad it was Mike that finally turned things around. I wonder who will play him in the eventual movie based on this season?
Kenan Thompson.
Hopefully his contract lasts as long as Kenan’s!
Keegan-Michael Key as Doug Christie.
Frankie Muniz as Domantas Sabonis.
The Mona Lisa as Keegan Murray.
Mona’s more animated.
Yeah – Da Vinci put a smile on that face – way too overstated for our #13.
I was thinking instead of Leonardo, Leonard Nimoy (aka Spock). It’s ok that he’s not alive (it’ll keep that one eyebrow down).
Spock could be more animated than Keegan.
Well deserved.
and I was wrong. while I liked him, my preference (whatever that means) was for a young coach to grow up with the players. But the players were farther along than I knew.
Great choice, great job and this is why I am not named Monte.
From that first presser – his voice has remained steady and non-resolute; Mike Brown understands the Sacramento-ness of what this franchise had become (Thanks Vivek!) and was determined to form a new, better and winning culture and not just sign on until the next job.
He hired a staff who carried out that philosophy. He had the players sign a contract of understanding. And then he went ahead and enforced and made accountable, including himself – those who didn’t buy in and stay in.
As a long suffering Sacramento Kings fan, he has my loyalty and gratitude.
That is an excellent statement, too. I literally could not be happier with this staff.
Congrats to Mike Brown. An honor well deserved, and might be more meaningful to coaches than the one the media votes on.
Well-deserved, Coach. A wonderful award for an incredible achievement, and clear the mantle, there’s another on its way!
A lot of us, myself included, were hoping for a trendier, newer, splashier name to be hired last summer–probably because since Adelman so many of the Kangz head coaching hires have been third tier retreads and has-beens. On the surface, Mike Brown looked like he could fall into that category. What mistaken thinking that was! Coach Brown brought exactly what this team needed: PROFESSIONALISM. Accountability, commitment, attention to detail, explanations-not-excuses, pride… all those “traditional” emphases that so often get poo-pooh’d these days as too old-school, old-man-ish, etc., to translate to young players in the modern game. Monte McNair knew what so many others didn’t: Most young people CRAVE the kind of discipline, accountability, and no-excuses direction that Brown provides, so long as it’s paired with plenty of compassion, good humor, and positive reinforcement when earned. Kudos to Mike Brown, and to the players who so enthusiastically bought into the no-BS philosophy he brought to Sacramento.
Great post, and so true. We’ve needed someone just like MB since RA, and now we have him. Accountability has always been missing here in Sacramento, and I can’t think of anyone more deserving of initiating it here in Sacramento. He’s had his set backs in his career, and if a person is smart he’ll learn from those set backs. He’s learned from those set backs, and improved himself as a coach, but also as a man. This improvement had helped him to lead these young men, but also helped to change a losing culture in a town desperate for a culture change. WAY TO GO COACH !
Could someone explain who Michael Goldberg is/was and what he did that led MB to honor him as he did?
And congrats to Mike Brown, a pro’s pro!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Goldberg_(sports_executive)
Thanks!
Congrats Coach Brown! This is a well-deserved award.
Congratulations to Coach Mike Brown. Bald guys named Mike are pretty awesome, or so I’m led to believe.
silly trivia:
8 NBA Coach of the Year winners have been Mikes!
(Fratello, Schuler, Dunleavy, D’Antoni, Brown, Budenholzer)
Mike Brown will join Mike D’Antoni (2004-05/2016-17) and Mike Budenholzer (2014-15/2018-19) as twice winners – Brown having the largest gap between wins (2008-09/2022-23) at 14 seasons.
Grats Coach! Though the Red Auerbach Award isn’t officially announced, it’s yours.
Maaaaan I miss having Mike Brown on the Warriors. One of the lesser talked about edges that we’ve had over the rest of the league during our recent run of dominance was the coaching, I can’t tell you how many times the Warriors would draw up fantastically effective game plans or adjust in a series with innovative tactics.
Just off the top of my head, we had tagging (the high screen pick and roll defense where Steph would tag and then retreat), pre-switching against the Rockets to force them to waste time as they tried to get Steph into an iso situation against Harden, post switching (don’t know a good name for it, but basically a combo between tagging having the tagger retreat to the player in the far corner while having preset rotations cover nearest to the ball, introducing various forms of zone defense to throw opposing offenses off randomly.
Of course, we still have most of a great coaching staff with Kerr/Atkinson/Adams but Mike Brown is a fantastic coach who just gave us an incredible advantage over other teams. I’m real happy that he’s doing this well now!
Badge Legend