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The Golden State Warriors associate head coach Mike Brown is set to cross the Golden Gate Bridge and join the crosstown rival Sacramento Kings.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that Brown and the Kings agreed on a four-year deal, making Brown the 31st head coach in Kings franchise history.
The deal was negotiated the past 24 hours, with Brown emerging as a serious candidate after the Kings met with him for two days last week.
Brown will be tasked with fulfilling the Kings’ long-term goal—ending the 16-year playoff drought. Sacramento last made the playoffs during the 2005-06 season, when Mike Bibby and Brad Miller still played on the team.
Brown compiled a 347-216 record across eight seasons as head coach before spending the past six seasons as the associate head coach for the Warriors.
Warriors fans remember Brown best when he helped guide the Dubs to a 12-0 record in the 2016-17 playoffs while Kerr was recovering from a back injury. The Warriors went on to win the championship that year after beating the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games.
Brown will bring his decades long experience in coaching to a Kings franchise that has been rocked in turmoil, with countless firings and hirings long before Kings owner Vivek Ranadive bought the team in 2013.
Brown Not First Choice by Kings’ Owner: Report
According to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, former Warriors head coach Mark Jackson was seen as the favorite to take the job. Kings owner Vivek Ranadive was the vice chairman of the Warriors when Jackson helped cultivate Steph Curry and Klay Thompson as young stars about a decade ago.
Ranadive grew to admire Jackson, and wanted the Kings front office to seriously consider Jackson for the associate head coach role back in 2020.
According to reports, Kings front office and general manager Monte McNair favored Brown to be their head coach, opposing owner Ranadive’s liking to Jackson.
The ability for the Kings front office to make decisions without the involvement of their owner will be paramount in helping Sacramento become relevant again. Ranadive not not intervening and allowing McNair to make the hire on Brown is a good first step in achieving success for the Kings.
Mike Brown Expected to Finish Out this Season with Warriors
According to Wojnarowski, Brown is expected to finish out his role as associate head coach with the Warriors during this playoff stretch run, before he moves on with the Kings.
Across six seasons with the Dubs, Brown has instilled a level of trust and appreciation from players in the Warriors organization, and he will definitely be missed once he leaves.
The Dubs are in the midst of trying to win another title, the first since 2018. The Warriors are in a dogfight against the Grizzlies and are up 2-1 in the Conference Semifinals.
After getting a slew of bad luck with injuries over the last couple seasons, the main stars of Curry, Thompson, and Draymond Green have been fairly healthy during these playoffs.
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