The Kings’ 2024-25 season has gone sideways and general manager Monte McNair has seen enough.

Sacramento fired head coach Mike Brown on Friday, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported, citing sources, a day after the team collapsed in a brutal 114-113 loss to the Detroit Pistons at Golden 1 Center.

Just in: The Sacramento Kings are parting ways with head coach Mike Brown, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/mNdn5EOv4U

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 27, 2024

The Kings have lost five straight games and are 13-18 heading into Saturday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena.

Sacramento also has an unimaginable record of 6-12 at home this season.

The surprise move to fire Brown comes just five months after he signed a multi-year contract extension, reportedly a three-year, $30 million deal.

Doug Christie is expected to step in as interim head coach, Charania reported, citing sources. Christie, a 15-year NBA veteran who played five seasons in Sacramento, has been an assistant with the team since the 2021-22 season.

The Kings entered this season with heightened expectations after acquiring six-time NBA All-Star DeMar DeRozan from the Chicago Bulls.

DeRozan’s addition to All-Stars De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis, Sixth Man of the Year candidate Malik Monk and former No. 4 draft pick Keegan Murray should give the Kings one of the best cores in the NBA.

But Sacramento’s squad struggled to find consistency. While DeRozan, Fox and Sabonis are all averaging at least 20.8 points per game this season, that doesn’t translate into wins.

And as losses piled up, things began to heat up in Brown’s seat. The final straw was an 0-5 home game with losses to the Denver Nuggets, the Los Angeles Lakers (twice), the Indiana Pacers and the Pistons.

Brown’s hiring in May 2022 was the spark the Kings needed, and in his first season in Sacramento, the franchise ended its 16-year playoff drought and brought hope to the city. He also won the NBA’s Coach of the Year award that season.

Despite losing their NBA playoff series to the Warriors in the first round, things were looking up for the Kings. Last season they had a record of 46-36, which only allowed them to make it into the Western Conference play-in tournament.

The Kings defeated the Warriors in Game #9 versus #10, but lost to the New Orleans Pelicans in that game to determine the #8 seed and advance to the first-round playoff series.

And now an unacceptable start to this season cost Brown his job.

If the Kings don’t turn things around quickly, more seismic changes could be on the horizon.

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