Mike Brown sparked a generational new meme template over the weekend but did so at a significant financial cost to himself.
The NBA announced Tuesday that they are fining the Sacramento Kings head coach Brown $50,000, according to veteran NBA writer Marc Stein. The reason given was for Brown “aggressively pursuing a game official during live play” and also for “publicly criticizing the officiating.”
Brown was ejected from Sunday’s loss to the Milwaukee Bucks for running on the court to confront referee Intae Hwang after a no-call (video here). After the Kings lost in overtime on a Damian Lillard buzzer-beating three, Brown then pulled some theatrics in his postgame press conference. He pulled out a laptop and showed reporters video footage of a number of questionable calls/no-calls that disadvantaged Sacramento.
The Kings, who were the darlings of the NBA last season, have struggled a bit to recapture that magic this season. They sit at 23-16 (fifth in the West) and have gone just 4-4 in January (including multiple losses by 20 points or more). That may be why Brown’s frustration boiled over on Sunday night.
$50,000 is a pretty sizable fine for the reigning Coach of the Year Brown. It is twice what the league handed down to another head coach who recently went on a savage rant of his own against the officiating.
