Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown was hit with a $35,000 fine on Tuesday for “aggressively pursuing” an official during their game against the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday.
Brown, in the second quarter of the Kings’ 108-103 loss to the Nets, was called for a technical foul after he charged toward an official who he felt missed a foul call on the other end of the court. Brown raced after the official down the sidelines and screamed at him in his face, though he somehow stopped short of picking up an ejection.
That sparked a bit of a rally for the Kings, who were in a 19-point hole when Brown got his technical foul in the second quarter. They cut the deficit to just eight points at the break, but it wasn’t enough to push them to the win.
Brown is in his third season with the Kings, who he led to the playoffs for the first time in more than 15 years in 2023. He was named NBA Coach of the Year that season, too. He’s compiled a 102-80 record with the Kings.
Brown has been fined for criticizing officials in the past, perhaps most notably last season when he pulled out his laptop during a postgame news conference to highlight calls he thought were made wrong during the game. Brown, who was ejected in that game after confronting an official, was fined $50,000 for that incident.
The Kings have lost four straight and seven of their last 10 games. They sit at 8-10 heading into Wednesday’s matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves.