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Doug Christie will debut as interim head coach for the Sacramento Kings in Saturday's road game against the Los Angeles Lakers, but the NBA world is not yet ready to move on from the Mike Brown era.
The 2023 Coach of the Year (also won in 2009) was controversially dismissed from his duties a day after the team's collapse versus the Detroit Pistons and following critical postgame comments he made about De'Aaron Fox.
Brown and the star point guard were seen having a lengthy conversation during Friday's practice, and a couple of hours later, the HC was fired. When such a sequence occurs in professional sports, specifically in the NBA, people shift their focus to the athlete.
After all, this is a players' league. Naturally, fans are chomping at the bit to hear Fox speak on the Brown situation. His comments will only draw him more unwanted attention.
“De’Aaron Fox when asked by a reporter if the Kings players feel ‘pressure or guilt' after Mike Brown’s dismissal: ‘I wouldn’t use the word ‘guilt,” the 2023 All-Star and Clutch Player of the Year said, via ESPN's Dave McMenamin.
“That’s the nature of the job that we have,” Fox continued. “Obviously, him signing his extension this summer, we thought we would be together a whole lot longer. But that’s the decision that they made. But at the end of the day too, he’s still getting paid. A great part of being an NBA player, being an NBA coach is those things can happen, but contracts are guaranteed.”
Kings' De'Aaron Fox should have chosen his words more carefully
When a decent chunk of the public is convinced you helped push a coach out the door, it is probably not a good idea to essentially say, “hey, at least he's got money coming in, right?” That misguided response will pile onto the tower of bad optics that is currently positioned in front of Fox's locker at the Golden 1 Center.
People do not want excuses, especially in the midst of a five-game losing streak and 13-18 start to the season. They want the face of the franchise to lift the Kings up.
And to be fair, players are commending Fox for his leadership. He is said to have taken accountability for his costly foul in Thursday's loss to the Pistons, displaying the maturity that is expected of a team's top player.
Furthermore, Brown's postgame press conferences were reportedly “wearing on some players.” Sources within the Kings told The Athletic's Anthony Slater and Sam Amick that president of basketball operations Monte McNair made this coaching change.
Either way, De'Aaron Fox is under the microscope. His future feels uncertain, and Sacramento's playoff prospects are rapidly diminishing. Doug Christie, a man who experienced first hand the last time this franchise won a postseason series is tasked with holding everything together. Even if a revival is not attainable, the organization must avoid complete combustion.
Fox and the Kings take on the Lakers (17-13) in Crypto.com Arena on Saturday night. Ironically, Mike Brown has served as a scapegoat for both of these teams during his career.
