The Sacramento Kings recorded their first win of the post-Mike Brown era on Monday, downing the Dallas Mavericks, 110-100. Dallas was missing stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, making the Kings’ job a lot easier. Sacramento wasn’t complaining though, as they needed some good news. On a six-game losing streak heading into Monday’s matchup, the Kings have had a particularly tough two-week stretch.
In breaking that streak before the New Year, the timing could be seen as the beginning of a new chapter for a team that believed they needed a fresh start. In fact, the reason Sacramento had to fire the two-time Coach of the Year was because teams had adjusted to them. At least that’s how eight-year NBA veteran Malik Monk sees it. The perennial Sixth Man of the Year candidate was promoted to the starting lineup on Dec. 1 but believes “teams just got adjusted to” them, per ESPN storyteller Ramona Shelburne.
Kings’ De’Aaron Fox Vehemently Denies Rumors Of Mike Brown Fallout
Monk’s comments come on the heels of a report from former NBA guard and Run It Back co-host Lou Williams. According to Williams, the reason that Brown was fired was a disconnect between him and the team’s top perimeter players, De’Aaron Fox and DeMar DeRozan. On Monday, Fox took to X (formerly Twitter) to personally deny the allegations, saying “there was never any push back about anything”
There was never any push back about anything. This narrative of us butting heads or me going to management saying anything is (expletive). So you can run with that if you want to. https://t.co/z5rBpWmail
— De’Aaron Fox (@swipathefox) December 30, 2024
Fox also spoke to Shelburne about Brown’s dismissal:
“I feel like there’s this perception that people thought that we were at odds,” Fox says. “You can ask anybody in this organization: me and Mike have never even had an argument. We could disagree with something. We talked about it and it was gone.”
Miffed by the idea that he played a part in Brown’s fate, he clearly hopes that people take him at his word. After all, the former fifth overall pick told Kings executives that he didn’t want to play for another coach when it was time for them to make a decision on extending Brown’s contracting. Feelings do change but if the narrative is that he didn’t appreciate the tough coaching, it’s off the mark.
Was Lou Williams Wrong?
As for Williams’s comments?
The influx of former and current players joining the media space has revolutionized the landscape. There’s always been a place for them as subject matter experts. However, the latest wave of athletes specifically wanted a way to control unfavorable narratives. Ironically, many athletes have put out sensationalized content themselves.
With that being said, Fox didn’t try to disprove the notion that he and Brown butted heads at times. He didn’t deny that Brown made a suggestion that DeRozan came off the bench either. If those two parts of Williams’s report are true, they very well could have had an impact on Brown’s future. Intentional or not.
