Sacramento Kings fire head coach Mike Brown months after giving him extension

The Sacramento Kings fired head coach Mike Brown on Friday, the team announced in a press release.

The Kings are 13-18 and are in 12th place in the Western Conference. They have lost five consecutive games and have won just five of their past 17 games after an 8-6 start.

Doug Christie, an assistant coach under Brown who played for the Kings on some of their best teams, has been named the Kings' interim coach.

“This was a difficult decision, and I want to thank Mike for his many contributions to the organization,” Kings GM Monte McNair said in the team's statement.

The Kings have not progressed the way that ownership and the front office had expected after making the playoffs with a 48-34 record in 2022-23. They were a play-in team last season, but did not make the eight-team playoff field in the Western Conference after beating Golden State but losing to New Orleans.

Brown, who previously was a head coach for Cleveland and the Los Angeles Lakers and spent six seasons as an assistant with Golden State under Steve Kerr, was 107-88 in two-plus seasons with the Kings.

Brown signed an extension with the Kings in July.

“Mike has done a tremendous job leading our team and this extension is well-deserved,” McNair said in a statement at the time. “His commitment to success is second to none, and I look forward to building on the foundation he’s helped establish in Sacramento.”

Brown took over Sacramento in 2022 just as the Kings looked like they were headed in the right direction with De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis leading the team on the court. The Kings lost to Golden State in seven games in the 2023 playoffs, and the future looked promising.

But even a 46-36 record last season only got the Kings into ninth place in the West, illustrating how talented the West is. That’s even more true this season with teams like Memphis and Houston emerging as top teams in the West and San Antonio displaying growth with Victor Wembanyama.

The Kings lost to Detroit 114-113 at home Thursday after leading 98-83 with 8:12 left in the fourth quarter and 107-97 with 2:46 remaining in the fourth.

Sacramento, which resumes play Saturday against the Lakers, is 2½ games behind 11th-place San Antonio and three games behind Phoenix, Minnesota and Golden State, who are all 15-14.

This story was updated with new information.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sacramento Kings fire coach Mike Brown