{"id":114990,"date":"2024-12-30T13:14:40","date_gmt":"2024-12-30T18:14:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=114990"},"modified":"2024-12-30T13:14:40","modified_gmt":"2024-12-30T18:14:40","slug":"kings-lou-williams-head-coach-mike-brown-fired","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/30\/kings-lou-williams-head-coach-mike-brown-fired\/","title":{"rendered":"Former NBA Standout Reveals Reason Kings Fired Head Coach"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Sacramento Kings look much the same after firing head coach Mike Brown last Friday. With Brown\u2019s dismissal <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/28\/former-coach-michael-malone-rips-into-kings-others-react-to-mike-brown-news\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">causing an uproar<\/a>, there\u2019s a certain <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/28\/kings-interim-head-coach-doug-christie\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">level of expectation<\/a> for interim head coach Doug Christie. However, it\u2019s the players that are under the most pressure.<\/p>\n<p>The team\u2019s decision to part with a two-time NBA Coach of the Year who <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/06\/01\/kings-head-coach-agree-to-three-year-extension-mike-brown\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">signed a three-year contract extension<\/a> is the summer blindsided everyone. However, when Sacramento made that agreement with Brown, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/derozde01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DeMar DeRozan<\/a> wasn\u2019t on the roster. A six-time All-Star, the Kings were able to acquire DeRozan from the Chicago Bulls in <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/08\/15\/kings-offseason-addition-will-light-the-beam-in-sactown\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">a sign-and-trade on July 8<\/a>. The ink on Brown\u2019s contract had been dry for more than a month.<\/p>\n<p>As for what that has to do with why Brown was unceremoniously dismissed?<\/p>\n<h2>Former NBA Standout Lou Williams Reveals Reason Kings Fired Head Coach<\/h2>\n<p>On Monday, NBA standout Lou Williams appeared on <em>Run It Back<\/em> to discuss how the Brown lost DeRozan and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/f\/foxde01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">De\u2019Aaron Fox<\/a>, the team\u2019s top perimeter players.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cFrom what I understand it just ran its course and very fast\u2026.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m hearing there was just some pushback from how De\u2019Aaron Fox was continuously being singled out,\u201d Williams says, \u201cwhether it was publicly or behind the scenes\u2026 I was even hearing whispers where he might have asked or suggested that even DeMar DeRozan come off the bench.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">DeMar DeRozan was asked to come off the bench and De&#8217;Aaron Fox was continuously singled out&#8230;\ud83d\udc40<\/p>\n<p>Lou Williams shares insider information on why the Kings might&#8217;ve decided to fire Mike Brown<\/p>\n<p>WE&#8217;RE LIVE \u2b07\ufe0f<a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/CfAwAvgFYZ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/CfAwAvgFYZ<\/a><a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MichelleDBeadle?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@MichelleDBeadle<\/a> | <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TeamLou23?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@TeamLou23<\/a> | <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChandlerParsons?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@ChandlerParsons<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/SxKDNTipDT\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/SxKDNTipDT<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RunItBackFDTV\/status\/1873750528317891036?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 30, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThis was just a classic example of a coach losing the locker room and not being on the same page with his players,\u201d the three-time Sixth Man of the Year concludes.<\/p>\n<h3>The Right Guy For The Job?<\/h3>\n<p>It suffices to say that Brown no longer had the favor of at least two of Sacramento\u2019s key players. To be fair to Fox, he likely has been singled out more often than other players. However, Brown has been complementary of him as well, telling reporters that he\u2019s on the cusp of becoming a superstar.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Mike Brown&#8217;s challenge to De&#8217;Aaron Fox when getting his Kings to embrace the details &amp; lock in:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Fox has to step up. He&#8217;s a great player, on the verge of being a superstar&#8230;you have a lot of responsibility if you&#8217;re that guy, and he&#8217;s that guy. And he can&#8217;t be a part of not\u2026 <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/YU9891LSit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/YU9891LSit<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Sean Cunningham (@SeanCunningham) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SeanCunningham\/status\/1869498734255714533?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 18, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>With regards to DeRozan, the 35-year-old has started in every game he\u2019s played since the second season in the league. He started all but seven games as a rookie. Even if he was willing to, he\u2019s not a player accustomed to coming off the bench. As a result, it\u2019s understand if there was pushback or a reluctance to accept that role.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, DeRozan\u2019s refusal to even try to role change for a single game shows that he prioritizes himself over the team. Fox\u2019s pride was also problematic in this situation, as he obviously didn\u2019t take well to the constant criticism. It\u2019s possible that the Kings choosing them over Brown could put the franchise in better position to win a championship. Does Sacramento truly want to be led by DeRozan and Fox if this is the mentality they have though?<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a question that only the executives know the answer to, but one worth ruminating over.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Sacramento Kings look much the same after firing head coach Mike Brown last Friday. With Brown\u2019s dismissal causing an uproar, there\u2019s a certain level of expectation for interim head coach Doug Christie. However, it\u2019s the players that are under the most pressure. The team\u2019s decision to part with a two-time NBA Coach of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":115009,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29,1608,62,3],"tags":[664,350,3717],"class_list":["post-114990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kings","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","tag-deaaron-fox","tag-demar-derozan","tag-mike-brown"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114990"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114990\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115012,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114990\/revisions\/115012"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}