Sacramento Kings HC Mike Brown named 2022-23 NBA Coach of the Year
SACRAMENTO — Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown has been named the 2022-23 NBA Coach of the Year, marking the second time in his career he has been given the nod.
Brown was the first unanimous coach of the year after receiving all 100 first-place votes.
Coach Brown has led the Kings to a major turnaround this season, with the team both earning a playoff berth and posting a winning record for the first time since 2006.
The Kings were 48-34, the seventh-best record in the league and the first time they were a top-seven team since 2003-04.
Sacramento earned the No. 3 seed in the playoffs and has a 2-0 lead over the defending champion Golden State Warriors in round 1.
"Accountability has been big since Day 1," Kings guard De'Aaron Fox said. "When he was hired, I told him that's the most important thing, I felt like, to me was just being able to hold everybody accountable. … That's definitely the biggest thing."
During the regular season, the Kings also ranked first in scoring, averaging 120.7 points per game. The team ranked second in field goal percentage with 49.4% of their shots being made.
The team earned two nods to the All-Star game with Domantas Sabonis and first-timer Fox. Rookie Keegan Murray also posted a record-breaking season after he made more three-pointers than anyone in history during their first year in the league.
When he was introduced last June as coach of the Sacramento Kings, Mike Brown didn't make any grand proclamations or wild predictions.
He talked about work. He talked about culture. He talked about winning.
"One of the main reasons I was brought here," Brown said that day, "was to bring some leadership."
Many expected the NBA's award to be given to Brown as he was recently named, in his first year with the Kings, the 2023 Coach of the Year by the National Basketball Coaches Association.
The coaches association highlighted these top ten categories in which the Kings ranked highly:
- First in offensive efficiency at 1.159;
- First in true shooting percentage at 60.8%;
- Second in effective field goal percentage at 57.2%;
- Second in field goal percentage at 49.4%;
- Third in assists at 27.3;
- Second in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.02;
- Third in assist ratio at 19.3;
- Seventh in assist percentage at 62.6%;
- Fourth in passes made at 299.4; and
- Third in potential assists at 49.7
Brown previously earned the honor in 2009 as coach of LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, who posted a 66-16 record that year.