Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown was fined $35,000 on Tuesday for “aggressively chasing” 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 attacking a referee who he said missed a foul at the other end of the court. Brown ran after the official down the sideline and yelled in his face, though he somehow stopped short of catching the catapult.
That sparked a bit of a rally for the Kings, who were in a 19-point hole when Brown was fouled in the second quarter. They reduced the deficit to only eight points before the break, but it was not enough for them to win.
Brown is in his third season with the Kings, whom he led to the playoffs for the first time in more than 15 years in 2023. He was also named NBA Coach of the Year this season. He 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 press conference to call attention to calls he thought were incorrect during a game. Brown, who was ejected in that game after confronting an official, was fined $50,000 for the incident.
The Kings have lost four straight and seven of their last 10 games. They are 8-10 on the season heading into Wednesday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.