Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown was fined $35,000 on Tuesday for “aggressively pursuing” a referee during their game against the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday.
Brown, in the second quarter of the Kings’ 108-103 loss to the Nets, was charged with a technical foul after charging at a referee who felt he had botched a foul called at the other end of the court. Brown ran after the referee down the sideline and yelled in his face, although somehow he was not ejected.
That sparked a bit of a comeback for the Kings, who were in a 19-point hole when Brown picked up his technical foul in the second quarter. At halftime they reduced the difference to just eight points, but it was not enough to take the victory.
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. That season he was also named NBA Coach of the Year. He has compiled a 102-80 record with the Kings.
Brown has been fined for criticizing referees in the past, perhaps most notably last season when he pulled out his laptop during a postgame news conference to highlight calls he thought were made poorly during the game. Brown, who was ejected in that game after confronting a referee, was fined $50,000 for that incident.
The Kings have lost four straight and seven of their last 10 games. They are 8-10 heading into Wednesday’s matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves.