Report: Mike Brown Voted NBCA's Coach of Year After Snapping Kings' Playoff Drought

Helping to lead one of the best turnarounds in NBA history, Sacramento Kings coach Mike Brown has been named the National Basketball Coaches Association's Coach of the Year, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Brown, 53, helped lead the Kings to their first postseason appearance since 2006 in his first year with the organization. Sacramento ended up with the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.

Brown was the NBA's Coach of the Year in 2008-09 while with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Brown said in a statement Thursday:

"We have an incredible group of head coaches in the NBA, all of whom deserve to be recognized for their leadership as they execute their craft at the highest level every day. This award is incredibly special in my first year with the Kings. It is a reflection of the caliber of men that Monte McNair and Wes Wilcox have assembled and who I have absolutely loved coaching."

Brown is also in contention to win the NBA's Coach of the Year award, which will be given out later in the playoffs and voted on by the media.

His win ends a two-year reign by Phoenix's Monty Williams. Other coaches who were up for the award include Milwaukee's Mike Budenholzer, Oklahoma City's Mark Daigneault, Boston's Joe Mazzulla and New York's Tom Thibodeau.

In addition to helping lead Sacramento back to the playoffs, Brown also instituted one of the best offenses in the league. The Kings averaged 120.7 points per game, the most since the 1983-84 Denver Nuggets, per Wojnarowski.

Brown and the Kings are set to take on the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs. He worked as an assistant coach under Steve Kerr for the defending champions from 2016 to 2022, winning three titles with the organization.