Knicks' Mike Brown Has Message for Kings Fans Before Return to Sacramento

The New York Knicks head coach hopes Sacramento Kings fans are appreciative of what he accomplished with the franchise.

Dec 16, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; New York Knicks Head Coach Mike Brown at press conference prior to the Emirates NBA Cup Final against the San Antonio Spurs at T-Mobile Arena. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

It’s been over a year since the Sacramento Kings decided to fire former NBA Coach of the Year Mike Brown. Since then, Brown’s path couldn’t be more different than his prior team’s. The Kings are sitting at 10-30 and near the bottom of the standings in the West, while Brown’s New York Knicks are second in the East. Given the way Brown was let go, it would be understandable if he were still bitter toward the team. 

Of course, that isn’t who Brown is at his core, and he was very complimentary of the fan base as well as his time in Sacramento. 

"I think the crowd will be good. I enjoyed my time here. I enjoyed the fans here. Hopefully they appreciate what we accomplished,” Brown said before Wednesday’s matchup between the Knicks and Kings.

Two Very Different Roads

Brown and the Knicks are 25-14, just a few games back of the conference-leading Detroit Pistons. Brown has the Knicks’ offense humming to the tune of a 121.2 rating, good for third in the entire NBA. 

Watching New York, you’ll see a lot of the same things that Brown implemented with the Kings. Jalen Brunson, like De’Aaron Fox, is the head of the snake for the Knicks; the difference is in the supporting cast. It wasn’t a secret that Brown was looking for athletic, defensive-minded wings to support Fox and Domantas Sabonis in Sacramento, and now he has two in Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby. 

Though the Knicks look great on paper, Brown has had his struggles this season, especially on the defensive end. With both Bridges and Anunoby in the lineup, plus Mitchell Robinson off the bench, you would expect New York to have a top-10 defense. 

Unfortunately for Brown, the Knicks’ 18th-ranked defense has raised questions about how far this team can go. Still, Brown is in a much better spot than his former team and is looking forward to a competitive game.

“If they cheer or hug me, trust me, they want to kick my ass and the Knicks' ass. And we want to do the same,” Brown said.

Brown wasn’t free of criticism during his time in Sacramento, but I would be surprised if most fans wouldn’t prefer he were still in charge. His perceived disinterest in playing Keon Ellis and reluctance to try a less dribble-handoff heavy offensive approach were two of the main gripes fans had with Brown before he was let go. Regardless of the way things ended, Brown clearly has a sense of humor about the whole situation.

"When it happened…my wife & I went to Australia for UFC 312, Brooklyn, Puerto Vallarta, St Barts…I probably shouldn't have said all that 🤣 It's life, you keep moving forward…Life's short"

– Mike Brown back in Sacramento where he was fired a year ago pic.twitter.com/96MEwA3fbx

— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) January 14, 2026

Looking Back on the Dysfunction

Last season was filled with ill-advised decisions by the Sacramento Kings’ brass, but was letting go of the former Coach of the Year the worst of the bunch?

There was the decision by general manager, Monte McNair, and Vivek Ranadive to pass on Pascal Siakam due to their disinterest in offering him a max contract. Next was the move to bring in DeMar DeRozan, who has been great numbers-wise with Sacramento, but his playstyle was always going to be a tough fit around Fox and Sabonis. Then there was the rash decision to fire Brown after a rough start to the season for Sacramento, but the ripple effect from that decision is why it might be the worst thing the Kings did last season. 

BREAKING: Sacramento is finalizing a trade to send De'Aaron Fox to the San Antonio Spurs in a multi-team trade that moves Chicago Bulls' Zach LaVine to the Kings, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/Ftmo8N4hMj

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 3, 2025

After McNair fired Brown as he was getting ready to board the team plane with all of his players, the team inexplicably let Fox take the blame in the media. 

McNair and Ranadive didn’t outwardly name Fox as the reason Brown was let go, but their decision not to hold a press conference while rumors were flying that Fox wanted Brown gone ruptured the already thin string holding together Fox’s relationship with the franchise. After that, Fox was understandably ready to be done with the team and was shipped out to San Antonio. 

Trading Fox midseason was already a mistake in and of itself, but the package the Kings got back made matters even worse. Unless you had been living off the grid (or just not paying attention to the Kings), you would have heard of Ranadive’s fascination with Zach LaVine. When the opportunity to bring LaVine back in a trade arose, Ranadive and the Kings jumped on it instead of bringing back more picks or a younger, promising prospect. 

This version of the Kings is the result of the decision to fire Brown, and it may be a while before fans see a team that reaches the heights the Beam Team once did. 

Onward, And Upward

The damage has been done when it comes to the Kings, and now the new regime must put that all behind them as they begin on the path to relevancy once again. For now, fans just want to see some competitive basketball, which they have had the last two nights at Golden 1 Center. 

As great as it will be for fans to have Brown back in the building, he and the Knicks will be doing everything in their power to end Sacramento’s winning streak (if we can call it that). We’ll see if Brown is right about how the fans will react to him when the Kings face off against the Knicks on Wednesday.