{"id":134893,"date":"2025-04-17T04:48:07","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T08:48:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=134893"},"modified":"2025-04-17T04:48:07","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T08:48:07","slug":"kings-fire-gm-monte-mcnair-after-season-ending-letdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/04\/17\/kings-fire-gm-monte-mcnair-after-season-ending-letdown\/","title":{"rendered":"Kings Fire GM Monte McNair After Season-Ending Letdown"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/02\/22\/kings-midway-notes-a-little-too-late-kings\/#google_vignette\" target=\"_self\">Sacramento Kings<\/a> have <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/story\/_\/id\/44709931\/monte-mcnair-kings-gm-play-loss\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fired<\/a> General Manager Monte McNair. The decision, described as mutual, followed a 120-106 loss to the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/03\/10\/never-seen-this-mavericks-too-broke-to-solve-injury-issues\/\" target=\"_self\">Dallas Mavericks<\/a> in the play-in tournament. That defeat officially ended the Kings\u2019 2024-25 season. The franchise wasted no time. Roughly an hour after the final buzzer, reports confirmed McNair\u2019s dismissal. ESPN and <em>The Athletic<\/em> both cited sources close to the team. The Kings have now failed to advance past the play-in tournament for the second straight year. Their only playoff appearance under McNair came in 2023. That year, Sacramento broke a 16-year postseason drought and earned McNair the Executive of the Year award.<\/p>\n<h2>Kings Fire GM Monte McNair After Season-Ending Letdown<\/h2>\n<h3>McNair\u2019s Tenure: Highs, Lows, and Unfulfilled Promise<\/h3>\n<p>McNair\u2019s five-season run brought some hope to a long-suffering fanbase. He stabilized the team and helped them win 40 or more games for three straight years. Before his arrival, the Kings had not hit that mark since 2006.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The Kings and GM Monte McNair have mutually agreed to part ways, league sources tell <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheAthletic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@TheAthletic<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Sam Amick (@sam_amick) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sam_amick\/status\/1912737414793293971?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 17, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>During McNair\u2019s leadership, Sacramento posted a .<a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/executives\/mcnaimo99x.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">488<\/a> win percentage. In contrast, the Kings won just 36.2% of their games from 2006 through 2020. His tenure included bold decisions, a strong draft record, and steady improvement in the regular season.<\/p>\n<p>But the postseason remained elusive. After losing to the Warriors in seven games in 2023, the Kings stumbled. They could not return to the playoffs. Play-in losses in consecutive seasons raised serious questions about the team\u2019s long-term direction.<\/p>\n<h3>Signs of Dysfunction Resurface<\/h3>\n<p>The Kings&#8217; front office has been under fire for months. The firing of Coach of the Year Mike Brown sparked backlash, especially from star guard <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/f\/foxde01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">De\u2019Aaron Fox<\/a>. He accused the organization of failing to protect him during the fallout.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou fire the coach, and you don\u2019t do an interview?\u201d Fox <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/story\/_\/id\/44126913\/mike-brown-firing-ended-deaaron-fox-sacramento-kings\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told<\/a> ESPN. \u201cI felt at the time the organization didn\u2019t have my back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This comment reflected deeper organizational issues. Brown\u2019s firing and the lack of communication suggested a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/03\/07\/deaaron-fox-major-update-sacramento-kings-trade\/\" target=\"_self\">disconnect<\/a> between leadership and the locker room. The Kings have since operated under interim coach Doug Christie, who finished with a <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/coaches\/chrisdo01c.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">27-24<\/a> record.<\/p>\n<p>Christie now awaits a decision about his future. The team has not confirmed whether he will return as head coach.<\/p>\n<h3>Deadline Moves Created More Doubt<\/h3>\n<p>The Kings made a controversial trade deadline decision by acquiring <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/derozde01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DeMar DeRozan<\/a> and reuniting him with <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lavinza01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zach LaVine<\/a>. This move mimicked the Chicago Bulls&#8217; approach, despite their lack of postseason success.<\/p>\n<p>Analysts widely criticized the move. Many believed Sacramento prioritized regular-season wins over playoff potential. The new core failed to elevate the team. They still couldn\u2019t escape the play-in.<\/p>\n<p>As CBS Sports\u2019 Sam Quinn <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/news\/kings-issue-stark-reminder-of-their-dysfunction-by-firing-monte-mcnair-right-after-play-in-loss-to-mavericks\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">noted<\/a>, \u201cYou can win 40 games with DeRozan, LaVine, and Domantas Sabonis. But you probably won\u2019t win in the playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That assessment stings after another early exit.<\/p>\n<h3>A Pivotal Offseason Awaits After Kings Fire Monte McNair<\/h3>\n<p>Sacramento faces a critical summer. They must choose a new general manager, decide on <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/03\/30\/doug-christies-kings-struggles\/\" target=\"_self\">Christie\u2019s future<\/a>, and reassess their roster. With Fox\u2019s contract nearing its end, the clock is ticking.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/01\/11\/early-promising-signs-from-devin-carter-justify-kings-stance\/\" target=\"_self\">Kings<\/a> cannot afford more missteps. They must prove 2023 wasn\u2019t a fluke. Otherwise, they risk losing both their star and the fans\u2019 remaining faith.<\/p>\n<p>McNair brought stability and hope. But in the NBA, stability means little without playoff success. The Kings now search again\u2014for leadership, for vision, and for a way forward.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><label>Credit: <\/label>\u00a9 Bill Streicher-Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Sacramento Kings have fired General Manager Monte McNair. The decision, described as mutual, followed a 120-106 loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the play-in tournament. That defeat officially ended the Kings\u2019 2024-25 season. The franchise wasted no time. Roughly an hour after the final buzzer, reports confirmed McNair\u2019s dismissal. ESPN and The Athletic both [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5018,"featured_media":134895,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_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":[62,1608,3,29],"tags":[49258,664,350,49916,979,3717,49915,50077,49701,457],"class_list":["post-134893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-news","category-kings","tag-cbs","tag-deaaron-fox","tag-demar-derozan","tag-doug-christie","tag-espn","tag-mike-brown","tag-monte-mcnair","tag-nba-executive","tag-the-athletic","tag-zach-lavine"],"modified_by":"Frederick Okocha","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134893","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\/5018"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134893"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134893\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":134896,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134893\/revisions\/134896"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}