Kings HC Mike Brown Sounds Off on Heated Ejection After Loss vs. Bucks
It was far from a calm Sunday in the NBA for Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown. The Kings faced off against the Eastern Conference two-seed, the Milwaukee Bucks, for what would eventually be a tight 143-142 overtime loss in the Fiserv Forum. However, the end result of this tightly contested game would not be the biggest highlight of the contest.
With about nine minutes to go in the 4th quarter of this game, we saw a questionable no-call between All-NBA guard De’Aaron Fox and Bucks’ Cameron Payne that would lead to a turnover going Milwaukee’s way. It was then that we saw Coach Brown storm out to defend his players and explode on the official at mid-court.
Promptly, he was given two technicals and effectively ejected. Kings’ Malik Monk and Trey Lyles would come in an attempt to calm and restrain Brown, who then swiftly made his way back to the visiting locker room. Assistant coach Jordi Fernandez took control for the rest of the game, which inevitably would end in a both heartbreaking and classic Damian Lillard buzzer-beater.
After the game, Brown took to the podium to explain his ejection vs. the Bucks, noting an imbalance in officiating between Milwaukee and Sacramento that spanned most of the game.
Anthony Slater of The Athletic posted a lengthy snippet of his post-game interview (and even a hilarious film breakdown with the press) on X:
“The referees are human, and they’re going to make mistakes. But you just hope, A, there is some sort of consistency, B, there is some sort of communication. And the refs tonight: they were great! They communicated with me all night. But, in terms of the consistency you guys saw right here: [Damian Lillard] coming off the pick-and-roll, and [De’Aaron Fox] getting hooked and almost falling coming off the pick-and-roll."
Through the course of the night, the Kings shot 20 free throws compared to the Bucks’ 32, which can contribute to Coach Brown’s overall frustration. He also noted an incident involving center Brook Lopez earlier in the game surrounding the perplexing rule of verticality, which added to his vexation.
Slater continued to ask Brown if his actions were representative of a ‘boiling point’ that Sacramento had been dealing with all season:
“It for sure was tonight. It was tonight. 19-to-5 from the free throw line? And, like I said, communicate? They did that. Have some sort of consistency. In my opinion, the consistency wasn’t here tonight... As you can tell, I’m beside myself. Now, we had a chance to win the game, and we didn’t get it done. But, I’m telling you, it’s tough, man. It’s tough to go through that."
This game marks the 17th straight loss the Kings have suffered to the Bucks, yet to come out with a victory since 2016. Their next chance to get it done will come later this season on March 12th.
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