NBA Champion Head Coach BLASTS Kings for Brown Firing: "No Class. No Balls."

The Sacramento Kings decided it was time to tie the can to head coach Mike Brown in an effort to save their drowning season, and potentially to keep star guard De'Aaron Fox from wanting out.

But many around the league are questioning the way in which it was done—specifically, with a phone call after he held a full practice and was on his way to the airport for a team flight. Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone absolutely blasted the Kings for the move.

Michael Malone on the Sacramento Kings firing of Mike Brown:

“No class. No balls.”
— Ryan Blackburn (@NBABlackburn) December 28, 2024

The full quote from Malone, who won the NBA championship with the Nuggets in 2023 and was fired by the Kings' ownership group 10 years ago:

"Awful. Yeah, awful... We're going into a meeting this afternoon and...the coaches say you hear about Mike Brown? I said, why what happened? They said he got fired.

"And at first I was really shocked and surprised. Then I caught myself, I said, 'why am I shocked and surprised?' [I'm not] for two reasons. One, because as an NBA head coach, ultimately, you're gonna get the blame. When they win, it's gonna go to Sabonis and Fox, and when you lose, it's gonna go to Mike Brown. That's the way it works. And two, who he works for.

"So l'm not surprised that Mike Brown got fired, because I got fired by the same person. And what really pissed me off about it was the fact that... They had practiced this morning. He does his postgame media, and he's in his car going to the airport to fly to LA and they call him on the phone."

"No class, no balls. That's what I'll say about that."

Malone owns a 747-440 record in Denver over the past decade since getting the pink slip in Sacramento, including bringing Denver its first championship two seasons ago.

As for the Kings, Brown led them to the playoffs two years ago for the franchise's first time in 17 years, as was a unanimous choice for NBA Coach of the Year in 2023.