SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The Sacramento Kings sent a shock wave through the organization and its fanbase Friday with their decision to fire head coach Mike Brown 20 months after he became the NBA’s first-ever unanimous coach of the year in 2023.

That year, he helped the team snap the longest postseason drought in league history and followed it up with a second straight winning season in 2024. It was the first time the Kings were over .500 in two straight years since their beloved 2005-06 teams.

Firing Brown came on the heels of an 0-5 home stand that included consecutive losses to the hated Los Angeles Lakers; the Indiana Pacers who include former Kings guard Tyrese Haliburton; and the Detroit Pistons, who won on Jaden Ivey’s four-point play with 3 seconds left thanks to a lackadaisical foul from De’Aaron Fox.

The symbolism of losing to Haliburton and Ivey’s teams might not have been lost on Sacramento’s front office. Haliburton was sent to Indiana in the blockbuster trade that landed center Domantas Sabonis in 2022, while the Kings passed over Ivey for Keegan Murray with the No. 4 pick in the 2022 NBA draft. Ivey has been more productive during his third season with Detroit, averaging a career-high 17.5 points while shooting 38.6% from 3-point range; Murray, by contrast, is averaging a career-worst 12.1 points per game on 29.5% shooting from distance.

The Kings are hoping to end their painful stretch with a road win over the Lakers on Saturday night. It would be fitting for interim coach Doug Christie, who hasn’t been shy about his disdain for the Lakers stemming from his playing days.

Firing Brown continues an alarming trend for Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé: No head coach since he bought the team in 2013 has lasted more than three seasons. Christie is the Sacramento’s eighth coach of Ranadivé’s 11-plus year tenure.

Here’s a timeline of notable events during Brown’s two-plus seasons as Sacramento’s head coach.

May 8, 2022: Brown hired

The Kings announced the hiring of Brown in the middle of his final playoff run with the Golden State Warriors as Steve Kerr’s lead assistant. Brown was in charge of a defense that season that led the NBA in defensive rating.

Golden State held the Celtics to a 105.8 offensive rating during their six-game win in the NBA Finals after the Celtics averaged 114.4 points per 100 possessions during the regular season.

June 21, 2022: Brown comes to town

Brown was formally introduced as Sacramento’s head coach five days after the Warriors clinched their championship in Boston.

“It came down to three key things for us,” Kings general manager Monte McNair said that day. “Experience, successful head coaching experience. Relationships, the ability to build relationships across the organization, and leadership. Leadership as a head coach and leadership for everything we’re trying to do here.”

Oct. 29, 2022: Brown’s team lights the beam

After starting the season on a four-game losing streak, the Kings beat the Miami Heat 119-113 while getting 27 points from Kevin Huerter on 7-of-8 shooting from 3-point range. Huerter was among the team’s offseason additions, coming via a trade with Atlanta. He averaged a career-high 15.2 points per game during his first season in Sacramento.

But his slumping production has been among the Kings’ multitude of issues before Brown lost his job. Huerter’s down to 9.6 points per game on 31.2% shooting from deep this season and is coming off the bench in favor of Malik Monk.

That night against the Heat, though, marked the first time the Kings lit their infamous purple beam from the roof of Golden 1 Center, starting a new tradition coming after every victory.

March 29, 2023: Playoff drought ends

The Kings beat the Trailblazers in Portland by 40 points to clinch their first playoff berth in 16 seasons, ending what had been the longest active playoff drought in major North American professional sports and is the longest-ever dry spell in NBA history.

As many joked during the time, the postseason drought was old enough to get a California driver’s license.

April 30, 2023: Warriors eliminate Kings

The Kings’ dream season ended with a Game 7 loss to Stephen Curry and the Warriors, who outscored Sacramento 64-42 in the second half while Curry finished with 50 points, a short-lived record for most points ever in a Game 7 (Boston’s Jason Tatum broke the record two weeks later with 51 against the Philadelphia 76ers).

The Kings lost the series after having a 2-0 lead and learned they needed to improve to solidify themselves as Western Conference contenders.

April 16, 2024: Kings get their revenge

In a game that left fans saying they ended the Warriors dynasty, the Kings thumped Golden State 118-94 in the first-round of the NBA play-in tournament in what turned out to be Klay Thompson’s last game as a Warrior. It came after the Kings finished the regular season 46-36, just two games worse than the previous year.

They finished the season on a 4-7 stretch while Monk was out with a knee injury and backed into the No. 9 seed after being as high as No. 5 in the Western Conference standings in late February.

April 19, 2024: Kings miss the playoffs

The Kings’ 2023-24 season ended without making the playoffs when they lost 105-98 to the New Orleans Pelicans in the second game of the play-in. The Pelicans were without Zion Williamson, while only six players for Sacramento scored points.

The Kings finished 0-6 against New Orleans for the year, which led to McNair’s front office searching for upgrades in the offseason.

July 6, 2024: Kings acquire DeMar DeRozan

The losses to the Pelicans and disappointing end Sacramento’s season led to needing more of a scoring punch in clutch situations. That’s ultimately why the Kings swung on a trade for DeMar DeRozan from the Chicago Bulls. The three-team deal sent Harrison Barnes to the Spurs while Chris Duarte and two second-round picks went to Chicago. Sacramento signed DeRozan to a three-year, $74 million contract in the sign-and-trade.

DeRozan had been among the best clutch scorers in the NBA; the thinking was that pairing him with Fox would make the Kings lethal late in games.

The opposite has been true. The Kings entered Saturday with a 6-13 record in games where the score is within five points during the final five minutes, and have lost a league-worst nine games after leading in the fourth quarter.

July 17, 2024: Brown is extended through 2027

Brown was slated to enter the final season of his initial contract, but the two sides agreed to a three-year contract extension through the 2026-27 season to avoid Brown being in a lame-duck year. The deal was reportedly worth $25.5 million with $4.5 million in incentives.

Extending Brown made sense given the team’s recent instability and coaching turnover. But that decision raises eyebrows in the aftermath of Brown’s firing.

Dec. 27, 2024: Brown is fired

The Kings fired Brown after a 13-18 start to the season and five-game losing streak during a holiday home stand at the Golden 1 Center. Reports surfaced of Brown being let go after the Kings held a practice Friday morning before their flight to Los Angeles in the afternoon.

The team announced Brown’s dismissal almost seven hours after ESPN first reported the news.

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