SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento Kings have agreed to hire Golden State assistant Mike Brown as their head coach.
A person familiar with the decision confirmed on Sunday that Brown will take over the franchise with the longest playoff drought in NBA history. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team hadn't announced the hiring. ESPN first reported that Brown would get the job.
Alvin Gentry had been leading the Kings as their interim-head coach since Luke Walton left the team in November after a 6-11 start for his third season with the Kings. Gentry was relived of his duties in April.
Brown will be the most recent hire as the Sacramento Kings endure a playoff drought stretching back to 2005-2006 season. The team has gone through 12 coaches during their playoff drought.
- Rick Adelman:1999-2006
- Eric Musselman: 2007-2007
- Reggie Theus: 2008-2009
- Kenny Natt: 2009-2009
- Paul Westphal: 2010-2012
- Keith Smart: 2012-2013
- Mike Malone: 2014-2015
- Tyrone Corbin: 2015 - 2015
- George Karl: 2015-2016
- Dave Joerger: 2017- 2019
- Luke Walton: 2020-2022
- Alvin Gentry: 2022
Kings owner Vivek Ranadive took over the franchise in 2013 after being a minority owner with the Warriors and immediately hired Michael Malone off Golden State's staff as his first head coach.
Ranadive then hired former Warriors assistant Luke Walton has head coach in 2019 and promoted former Warriors assistant Alvin Gentry to interim coach after Walton was fired last November.
None of the moves have led to success for the NBA's worst-performing franchise of the past 16 years.
The Kings have failed to make the playoffs in each of those seasons, setting the record for the longest drought in NBA history. They went 30-52 this past season under Walton and Gentry with their .366 winning percentage, their worst since the 2017-18 season.
Adelman was fired in 2006 and remains the only coach in the Sacramento era to post a winning record in any season.
Brown is currently the Golden State Warriors assistant coach and former Cleveland Cavaliers & Los Angeles Lakers head coach. The Kings role would be his first time back in the head chair since the 2013-2014 NBA season.
According to ESPN, Brown & the Kings agreed to a four-year deal through the 2025-2026 season. If Brown coaches all four seasons, he will be the first of the past 12 Kings coaches to do so.
Brown has a career 347 wins and 216 losses coaching record, that's a 61% win percentage, and a 47-win, 36-loss playoff record.
Known for a defense-first approach, the 52-year-old coach will address one of the Kings' longtime weaknesses. In their 16 seasons missing the playoffs, Sacramento has never been better than 19th in the NBA defensively.
Brown will continue to serve as a Warriors assistant coach until their playoff run ends.
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