The Sacramento Kings have had a brilliant season so far and therefore their coach Mike Brown was named the Coach of the Year and he received the award on Wednesday. Brown was a unanimous winner as he received 100 out of 100 first-place votes. He also created history as he became the first unanimous winner of this award.
This comes as a reward for his exceptional work with the Kings. He guided them to their first-ever playoffs since 2006 and that too he did it in his first season with the team. Sacramento finished third in the Western Conference with a stunning record of 48-34. This comes as a massive improvement considering they finished 12th last season with a record of 30-52.
However Brown was very humble when he received the award and has always believed that it is not a singular effort that has brought them here to the playoffs after so many tough years. “It’s humbling. I’ve been around long enough to know that these awards don’t come around often,” Brown said.
“You can’t take them for granted because you don’t know if you’re ever gonna be in this position again.”
He credited his staff for their fantastic effort and also paid his gratitude towards the front office for their relentless support. “But, you know, I truly believe this. I have an amazing staff. I’m around a lot of amazing people, starting with our players. Our front office has been great. Matina has delivered anything that we needed. Monty and Wes, they assembled a fantastic team,” he added.
Lastly, he shared how in this day and age remaining healthy is the primary concern for the players and then only they can think of competing day every match. Hence, he credited his medical team for constantly working on the players. He also appreciated his assistant coaches who work under him and help the players improve in several aspects.
“I’ve said this too, during the course of the year, you have to be organized. You have to want to compete and be able to compete. But you also have to be healthy while having to sprinkle a little bit of luck in all those areas. And Jas and his group, our medical performance team, they’re the best in the league. You know, my coaches, they helped me keep us all organized. They’re extremely good,” he opened up.
“I got probably four or five guys out there who could be head coaches right now. And our players, I mean, they compete their butt off. Their competitive spirit is off the charts, and it shows every time we step on the floor, he also appreciated the coaches and the players.
This is the second time Mike Brown has won the COTY award. His maiden award was in the 2008-09 season when he was with the Cleveland Cavaliers and led them to the league-best record of 66-16. There he worked with LeBron James.
However, with the celebrations done and dusted, the Kings need to focus on the job at hand. They have a 2-0 lead in the playoff series against defending champions Golden State Warriors. Brown demands more physicality and also wants to play with speed. “We need to control our level of physicality, and that has to be up from the regular season, because we weren’t good in that area, and then I said we have to play with pace. So I’ve been yelling at our guys that we have to be doing the two P’s,” he stated.
Till now, the likes of De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis have proven their worth to the team. Harrison Barnes has also played his role with his shooting. Overall the team is looking good but the real test will be to perform away from home.
