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Victor Wembanyama invited people to play chess against him in New York. I want a player to invite fans to play Clue in a park.
‘No Class, No Balls’
The Kings fired Mike Brown … because … why?
He was named 2023 Coach of the Year, led the franchise to its only playoff appearance since prior to “The Departed” was in theaters and notched a three-year extension this summer. He was also two-plus years into the most successful stretch the Kings have enjoyed since Rick Adelman was let go back in 2006. All that was not enough to keep Mike Brown’s job safe after an 0-5 homestand in which tensions were high for the Kings as they fell to 13-18.
Sacramento fired Brown on Friday, and assistant Doug Christie was named interim head coach over Brown’s lead assistant, Jay Triano. We got the breakdown from Sam Amick and Anthony Slater on how all this came about, which is well worth your time. Here are my biggest takeaways from their piece:
- Sacramento ran it back last season after its first successful campaign in 16 seasons, only to win two fewer games as the West mutated into the traffic jam we see today.
- The Kings went from having the best offense ever to ranking 13th last season, and sat at eighth when Brown was fired. Apparently, this point was an obsession for owner Vivek Ranadivé.
- The organization let Brown coach an entire practice and talk to the media for 18 minutes before firing him via phone call before he could get to the team flight to L.A.
- The defense improved from 24th in 2022-23 to 14th last season, and was 16th at the time of the firing.
It’s really difficult to make it beyond three seasons as the coach of the Kings. It’s happened only twice in the Sacramento era (1985-present), with Garry St. Jean coaching nearly five seasons (1992-97) and Rick Adelman lasting eight seasons (1998-2006). Christie will be the eighth coach in the 12 years Ranadivé has owned the franchise. He’s the franchise’s 13th coach since Adelman was let go in 2006.
Former Sacramento coach and NBA champion Nuggets coach Michael Malone sharply criticized the Kings organization after this firing. He said he wasn’t surprised by the move because he also got fired by Ranadivé (he said that without naming him, though). Malone then tagged his opinion on the manner of the firing with, “No class, no balls.”
Here’s what I am inferring from the reporting on the manner:
- This is probably a classic Ranadivé overreaction to the team hitting a bad stretch. He’s fired plenty of coaches over something similar.
- The reporting from Amick and Slater said this was a decision by general manager Monte McNair. If that’s true, I’m guessing it’s a direct response to the recent reporting about De’Aaron Fox potentially wanting a trade and the conversation Rich Paul had with the organization about the team’s future.
- The Kings had a lot of bad decisions and miscues on the court in recent tight games they lost. Brown was highly critical of the team, and even called out Fox directly at times. You know, like a coach should do.
- This feels to me like an overreaction to the Fox situation.
Maybe Christie will be the right voice to pull it all together. Maybe this decision will bring about the results the organization wants. But the process is ridiculous once again, and there seems to be a very myopic view from the front office and ownership here. Such is the Kings, even when we thought they were past that kind of stuff.
The Last 24
We have a trade to announce …
🤝 DLo gone. The Lakers sent D’Angelo Russell to the Brooklyn Nets for Dorian Finney-Smith. Time for trade grades!
🫣 The Claw back? It sounds like we’re headed toward Kawhi Leonard’s season debut pretty soon. First week of January?
👊 Suspensions for kerfuffle. Jusuf Nurkić will miss three games, Naji Marshall will sit out four and P.J. Washington is getting a game. They got into it.
👀 Could we see absences from the skirmish between the Rockets and Heat on Sunday? Tyler Herro seemed to take it in stride.
🤔 Will Guillory breaks down hypothetical trade proposals for the Pelicans (more on them in just a few scrolls).
📺 Don’t miss this game tonight. Mavericks (20-12) at Kings (13-19), 10 p.m. ET on NBA TV or on Fubo (try for free). Let’s see if a new coach turns Sacramento around!
📺 Could be a great game. Cavaliers (27-4) at Warriors (16-15), 10 p.m. ET. Golden State really needs to get this one.
Stock Report!
Grizz up, Dubs down and more
It’s the last Monday of 2024, which means we’re checking our NBA stocks for the last time this year. Will these trends hold in 2025? Half of these teams hope they won’t! It’s the NBA Stock Report.
📈 Grizzlies (22-11): On Nov. 19, Memphis was 8-7 and still trying to figure out how to get back to what it was two years ago. Since then, the Grizzlies have gone 14-4. They need to see when they can get Ja Morant back from this AC joint sprain (in the same shoulder that ended his season last year). Scotty Pippen Jr. has been a gem, Santi Aldama is one of the best sixth men in the league and Jaylen Wells has been one of the best rookies. They’re the only team that is top five in both offense and defense.
📉 Warriors (16-15): This team has won only four of its last 16 games. For over a month now, Golden State hasn’t been able to make shots. In the Warriors’ last 16 games, they rank 29th in field goal percentage, 23rd in 3-point percentage and 30th in free-throw percentage. They do still employ Steph Curry. Jonathan Kuminga is scoring, as is Trayce Jackson-Davis. Shots just aren’t falling for anybody else.
📈 The Rockets (21-11) had a very frustrating loss to the Wolves this past week, dropping a 15-point lead with a little over four minutes left in the game. That being said, despite Sunday’s 104-100 loss to the Heat, Houston has won six of its last nine games and 16 of its last 23. The Rockets are also 12th in offensive rating during their last nine games. Houston is feasting on the offensive glass, running teams in transition and dominating the paint.
📉 Pelicans (5-27): I don’t want to pile on such a terrible season for the Pelicans, but they’re currently on a nine-game losing streak with games against the Clippers (18-13) and Heat (16-14) coming up next. New Orleans is still missing Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and Jose Alvarado. And this slide marks the Pelicans’ second nine-game losing streak of the season. The good news? After the game against the Heat, New Orleans has two straight against the Wizards (5-24). Help is on the way?
📈 The Pistons (14-18) have won five of their last eight games, and, while one of those losses was a bad one to the Utah Jazz (7-23), we’re seeing this team find confidence in some of these tight games. The defense is not what it needs to be, but the Pistons’ offense has really been kicking. Detroit is running right now, scoring a lot of points off turnovers and getting out on the break. The team finally seems to be developing an identity on that end of the court.
📉 Raptors (7-25): Toronto has lost 10 straight games. The Raptors just can’t compete against non-losing teams enough. They are 2-19 against teams that are .500 or better. Granted, they’re still missing Immanuel Quickley, and Jakob Poeltl has missed some games lately. But the Raptors really need to pull it together.
This is 40
Happy birthday, LeBron 🎂
I know people get sick of the LeBron James coverage for plenty of reasons. And his longstanding greatness has been dissected and discussed beyond belief. He’s omnipresent in sports because he’s one of the rare superstars who has delivered beyond expectations. While he’s made his production seem routine and regular, we should still marvel at what he’s been able to do at this late stage of his career. Literally nobody else has ever approached this kind of production this deep into a career, or this deep into their 30s:
- LeBron is averaging 27.4 points since turning 37 years old. Only Michael Jordan (21.2) and Karl Malone (20.7) have averaged 20 points or more after turning 37.
- He’s averaging 7.9 rebounds since turning 37. It’s tied for fourth with David Robinson, behind Malone (8.3), Tim Duncan (8.8) and Dennis Rodman (12.3 in 35 games).
- LeBron is fourth in assists (7.5) since turning 37, behind Chris Paul (7.9), John Stockton (8.3) and Steve Nash (8.5).
- He’s third in minutes (35.8), behind Jordan and Malone (both tied at 36.1).
You can’t find anybody who matches that production across the board. And LeBron is still going strong into his 40s as we wonder what might await in his career. How much longer will he play? Has he scratched the itch of wanting to play alongside his son Bronny in the NBA? Will he wait for his other son, 17-year-old Bryce? Can he realistically chase a fifth championship?
James Jackson and I put together the top 40 moments of LeBron’s career as he turns 40 today. Most of the moments have happened on the court, but a few others (i.e., opening up a school, The Decision, etc.) found their way onto the list. One that unfortunately didn’t make the cut was when he lost the 2011 NBA Finals and essentially called everybody broke and losers. I genuinely think that’s one of the funniest, pettiest moments in sports history, so I felt the need to mention it here.
He’s had so many ridiculous and epic basketball moments over 22 years and counting in the NBA. Even now, in his age-40 this season, he’s averaging 23.5 points, nine assists and 7.9 rebounds in 35 minutes. It’s not the LeBron we saw in Miami or Cleveland – or even the first couple years of being on the Lakers – but this train is still moving down the tracks and can control extended stretches of a basketball game despite logging the most minutes in NBA history. Happy birthday, LeBron!
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(Top photo: Tim Nwachukwu / Getty Images )
