On Tuesday away from the Golden State Warriors championship parade in San Francisco, Mike Brown appeared 90 miles above Interstate 80 and reported on his mission as Sacramento Kings’ new head coach.
“I hope it doesn’t hurt to say this,” Brown said at a press conference when he sat next to Kings’ general manager and president of the basketball business Monte McNair. “Because of this press conference today, I really couldn’t get up the way I wanted.”
After winning his third title in six years as a Golden State Assistant, his celebrations were modest, but Brown was four after two stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers and a spell with the Los Angeles Lakers. He said he was ecstatic to discuss the opportunity for the second head coach.
“The possibility here, I really believe it is off the chart,” he said. “I’m excited to think about it …. I’m excited about the players here.
“There are many opportunities for this place to explode. I want to be part of it.”
There is no place for the kings to go.
Sacramento hasn’t qualified for the postseason since 2006 and finished in the last place of the Pacific Division in seven of the 16 years. Kings advanced 30-52 this past season, dismissing Luke Walton in the middle of the campaign, ranking 25th in attack efficiency and 27th in defense efficiency, and then dismissing Alvin Gentry from the provisional position.
Brown dealt with the playoff drought on Tuesday.
“There are no elephants in the room,” he said. “You can talk about it. We’re going to accept it. I’m not here to have fun, get excited and join the community. I’m here to win Before us talking about winning. So we are looking forward to it. “
Brown, who took on the job during the Warriors’ second round playoff series with the Memphis Grizzlies, said he was “deeply involved” in taking over the Kings as he finished the Warriors’ championship run. On Tuesday, he revealed the majority of coach staff and hired Jordi Fernandez of the Denver Nuggets, Jay Triano of the Charlotte Hornets, Lucrux of the Phoenix Suns, and the outstanding Doug Christie of the former Kings who played at college.
“I talked to all the players many times,” Brown said. “Some people talked to me directly. Some people talked to Zoom. Like the staff around me, I talked to Zoom and talked many times over the phone. Obviously, Monty’s. Wife, she’s great. She’s a woman, but sometimes she may be a little frustrated with him because I think he answers my phone more than she does. “
He said he took a break between the Conference Finals and the NBA Finals to jump into San Diego and meet a point guard. De’Aaron Fox Good result. He calls him “Foxy”. He is the nickname he gave him when he taught him at a basketball camp in high school.
“Obviously I was impressed with his speed and left, but I thought he was a defensive dog,” Brown said of Fox. “So there will be a lot of pressure on him coming from me, no one else, to get back to what I know he can do night and night at this level.”
Brown said the Warriors’ defensive success last season shows what the Kings can do for that purpose, despite the flood of rosters with players with a limited defensive reputation.
“People look at Stephen Curry, [Nemanja Bjelica]Otto Porter, Jordan poole, [Andrew] Wiggins, Minnesota was able to go down the line of personnel who were with the Warriors, so people didn’t think they could defend, “Brown said. alliance. Well, will that happen next year? Do not know. Probably not. It will be a process. But I’m excited about everyone. “
Brown also mentioned Davion Mitchell, Harrison Barnes, Domantas Sabonis When Richaun Holmes Kings’ fourth-place pick at the NBA Draft on Thursday as a reason to be encouraged during the press conference and about the team’s future.
“I’m excited to be here in Sacramento,” Brown said. “I have a lot of friends who live this way. No one tells me anything or bad about the area. It’s always positive, and it’s before I get a job. So I’m excited to be in .. .. What is it? Sack Town. Sact. Sack. Big Tomato, something like that. It has different nicknames. “
