Jake Fischer latest: The Coaching Change Kings strike again

The People's Insider takes us behind the curtain on the NBA's first in-season bench dismissal of 2024-25 ... and merely the latest in Sacramento

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Mike Brown had Sacramento wrapped around his finger. That was my biggest takeaway from spending a week around the Golden 1 Center in the fall of 2022. It was the early days of the Kings' rise ... of lighting the beam and eventually snagging the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference to end the NBA's longest-ever playoff drought. He would bring media members onto the practice floor and walk them through the team's offense, long before his unforgettable iPad demonstration during a post-game presser this past January. Brown had that city eating out of his hand.

"He's very good at what he does," said Nets coach Jordi Fernandez, Brown's former lead assistant with the Kings. "In my opinion, he's one of the best."

Yet it all unraveled so swiftly. The Kings only dipped from 48 wins to 46 last season but narrowly missed the playoffs. And now, after an 0-5 homestand over the past two weeks, Brown is suddenly gone.

The Kings brashly fired him on Friday afternoon, just 31 games after awarding him a new two-year contract extension poised to pay Brown an additional $8.5 million in both the 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons. Those who study the Kings, however, presumably won't be surprised as the backstory comes into focus.