Kings GM Explains Lack of Press Conference After Firing Mike Brown

In this story:
It feels like ages ago that the Sacramento Kings fired Mike Brown, but today was the first chance the Kings media got the chance to ask GM Monte McNair about the decision to move on from the former Coach of the Year.
The Kings chose not to have a press conference after Brown was let go and Doug Christie was named Interim Head Coach. Instead, they held a Q&A that was shown on Kings Pregame Live on NBC Sports California, hosted by Mark Jones.
While McNair gave remarks about the decision during the sit-down, it's a drastically different environment than fielding live questions during a press conference.
When asked about it today, McNair revealed that at the time they were focused on improving the roster.
We were focused on the team and turning the team around.Monte McNair
Kings GM Monte McNair faces the media to explain the firing of Mike Brown as head coach, the decision to trade away De'Aaron Fox, how those moves came to be and the path going forward for Sacramento as they welcome Zach Levine into the mix. pic.twitter.com/sDOqk6Axmk
— Sean Cunningham (@SeanCunningham) February 5, 2025
While it's commendable that the Kings were looking to make improvements while they made the coaching switch, not hosting a press conference caused issues that seemingly trickled down to De'Aaron Fox and could be one of the many reasons the All-Star guard was open to being traded.
Fox took the brunt of the impact of Brown's firing, with many pointing the finger at him for the reason the Kings moved on from the coach.
Instead of backing their star player and providing clear answers as to why Brown was let go, Sacramento's front office left Fox out to dry. From the outside looking in, it's hard to know exactly what caused Fox to look at trade options and choose San Antonio, but it's hard to look at how the front office handled the post-Brown media choices and think that didn't play a large part in it.
Recommended Articles
Follow Sacramento Kings on SI on Facebook and Twitter.
Subscribe on YouTube for breaking Kings news videos and live-stream podcasts!

Will Zimmerle is the deputy editor of Sacramento Kings On SI. His works have also appeared on Bleacher Report, MSN, and Yahoo.
Follow will_zimmerle