Mike Brown Named 2022-23 NBA Coach of the Year After Ending Kings' Playoff Drought

Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown has won the 2022-23 NBA Coach of the Year award, it was announced Wednesday.

The 53-year-old beat out Joe Mazzulla of the Boston Celtics and Mark Daigneault of the Oklahoma City Thunder for the honor.

The 2022-23 season was Brown's first as head coach of the Kings after serving in the same role with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers. He worked as the associate head coach of the Golden State Warriors for six seasons before landing in Sacramento.

Led by De'Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis and Keegan Murray, the Kings were one of the best teams in the Western Conference in 2022-23, finishing with a 48-34 record and the No. 3 seed in the playoffs.

Additionally, they finished the regular season with the NBA's best offense after ranking 16th in 2021-22.

Sacramento leads its first-round postseason matchup against the Golden State Warriors 2-0. The Kings won their first playoff game in 17 years with a 126-123 win over the Dubs in Game 1.

Before 2022-23, the Kings hadn't had a winning record or made the playoffs since the 2005-06 season.

It's clear Brown is the guy to lead the Kings for years to come, and the team should only get better as the younger players on the roster, including Fox and Murray, log more minutes.