One day after point guard De’Aaron Fox was named Clutch Player of the Year, the Sacramento Kings saw one of their own receive another individual award, as Mike Brown was named NBA Coach of the Year on Wednesday.
Brown became the first coach in league history to unanimously win the award, receiving all 100 first-place votes from media members to beat out finalists Mark Daigneualt of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Joe Mazzulla of the Boston Celtics.
Daigneault finished with 48 second-place votes and 164 total points, while Mazzulla tallied 18 and 77, respectively.
Brown, 53, is in his first season as coach of the Kings after serving as an associate head coach for the Golden State Warriors from 2016-22. He helped Sacramento back to the playoffs for the first time since 2006, a 16-year playoff drought which had been the longest postseason cold spell in all four major North American sports leagues.
The Kings, who finished third in the Western Conference this season by going 48-34, currently hold a 2-0 lead over Golden State in a first-round playoff series. Game 3 is scheduled for Thursday night in San Francisco.
–Field Level Media