The Kings have already made up their mind to hire Mike Brown as their next head coach. However, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith believes that if the position was still open, they might reconsider.
“Mike Brown stands today as the luckiest man in the NBA” Smith said Thursday on “First Take.”
“Because I assure you … if the Sacramento Kings had not made a choice yet and Mike Brown had coached these last two games – the way the Golden State Warriors team looked – that team would have cost him the head coaching job. I’m not saying it would have been fair.”
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Before he joins the Kings, Brown currently is the acting head coach of the Warriors, taking over for Steve Kerr for Golden State’s last two playoff games as Kerr was sidelined due to COVID-19. The Warriors under Brown have not looked good, squeaking out an ugly 101-98 win in Game 4 on Monday and then getting demolished 134-95 in Game 5 on Wednesday night.
“If the Sacramento Kings – they won’t admit it not because they already made the hire,” Smith continued. “But if the Sacramento Kings had not made their choice, considering how Golden State looked, as putrid as they did in struggling to win Game 4 and then look the way they looked last night, it would have cost him that head coaching job. They would not have given it to him.”
Brown is revered in the Warriors locker room and the Kings’ hire was applauded throughout the NBA. Warriors forward Draymond Green believes that Brown will snap the Kings’ long playoff drought in praising the hire.
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However, there’s no denying that the Warriors have looked a bit out of sorts with Brown at the helm in these last two games. That being said, when Kerr previously missed time during the 2017 playoffs, Brown went 11-0 in his role as acting head coach.
The Warriors still lead the Grizzlies three games to two with Game 6 back at home at Chase Center. If Brown is able to steady the ship and help the Warriors move on to the Western Conference finals, perhaps Smith will change his mind.