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“No class, no balls”: Championship coach slams fellow NBA franchise following shock coach sacking
Nic Negrepontis • December 28th, 2024 3:18 pm
Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone has unloaded on the Sacramento Kings organisation for firing their coach Mike Brown over the phone, saying they have “no class” and “no balls”.
Brown was fired as head coach of the Kings after a five-game losing streak and a 13-18 record, despite leading Sacramento to the playoffs and being named 2023 coach of the year.
The situation is somewhat personal for Malone, as he was fired by the Kings in his second season at the helm back in 2015.
The Nuggets championship coach did not hold back in his assessment of the Sacramento organisation and owner Vivek Ranadivé.
"We're going into a meeting this afternoon and ... I'm not on social media. I'm not aware of what's going on outside these walls sometimes. I've had an office with no windows for ten years,” Malone told reporters on Saturday.
“It'll probably take off six years of my life. I go into the meeting and the coaches say you hear about Mike Brown? I said, why what happened? They said he got fired.
“And at first I was really shocked and surprised. Then I caught myself, I said, why am I shocked and surprised? (I’m not) for two reasons. One, because as an NBA head coach, ultimately, you're going to get to blame. When they win, it's going to go to Sabonis and Fox, and when you lose, it's going to go to Mike Brown. That's the way it works.
“And two, who he works for. So, I'm not surprised that Mike Brown got fired, because I got fired by the same person. And what really pissed me off about it was the fact that they lost last night, fifth game in a row, I believe. Tough loss, fouling a jump shooter.
“They had practiced this morning. He does his postgame media, and he's in his car going to the airport to fly to LA and they call him on the phone. No class, no balls. That's what I'll say about that. Thanks everybody.”
Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle was also surprised by the decision, saying he was “absolutely shocked” to hear of the firing.
Brown had led the Kings to their most successful records in years, winning 48 and 46 games under him respectively. Their most wins since 2006.
