Kings' Mike Brown named NBA's 1st unanimous Coach of the Year

The Sacramento Kings announced the hiring of Mike Brown as head coach in May with hopes he would lead the team out of its 17-year playoff drought. He did that. Now, he’s the NBA’s Coach of the Year.

In the first unanimous win for the award in NBA history, 100 media members voted for Brown to beat finalists Mark Daigneault of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Joe Mazzulla of the Boston Celtics.

The 53-year-old previously spent six seasons living an hour and a half away from the home of his current team, where he worked as an assistant under Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr. With a total of four NBA championship rings, he came with head-coaching experience from stints leading the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers.

This is his second time earning Coach of the Year. He won the award in 2009 after guiding a LeBron James-led Cavaliers team to a league-leading 66-16 record and the Eastern Conference finals.

While Brown came to Sacramento with a track record of prioritizing defense, his iteration of the Kings will go down as one of the most efficient offensive teams in NBA history. Sacramento scored a league-best 118.6 points per 100 possessions in the regular season and the team is currently up 2-0 in a first-round playoff series with the Warriors.

It's a sports feel-good story, but it started with some fight.

Brown was ejected from a December game against the Toronto Raptors for his reaction to a series of calls that went against his team. He was seen screaming at officials from the sideline with the initial call, but made his way to the court when Kings star De'Aaron Fox was hit with a technical.

The outburst cost Brown $25,000, but it gave the Kings an opportunity to show they would rally behind their coach. The team came back to win the game "for him," according to Kings guard Malik Monk.

An altercation during a Kings win over the Houston Rockets that led to four ejections put that team's spirit on display once again.

"That's the fight we'll need for the playoffs," Kings veteran Harrison Barnes said.

Now, the Kings have earned their due respect from opponents and fans. The team saw its first pair of All-Stars since 2004 in Domantas Sabonis and Fox and February. On Tuesday, Fox was named the NBA's inaugural Clutch Player of the Year.

The team has come a long way. Regard for the Kings has grown so much, that some opposing fans argued the league was partial to Sacramento in its recent ruling to suspend Warriors veteran Draymond Green for Game 3. Green was ejected from Game 2 after stomping on Sabonis’ chest in the fourth quarter.

Changing the culture

Upon his arrival in Sacramento, Brown was faced with the task to give the Kings a mindset makeover.

"A strong soul, in my opinion, equates to a winning culture," Brown said during his introductory news conference.

To ensure the Kings were all on the same page about what that winning culture would look like, he put pen to paper. Before the season started, Brown drafted an "All-In" contract, detailing a requirement for selfless connection to the team, full commitment to accountability, being present and embracing adversity. He gave everyone an opportunity to sign it, including front-office personnel and the team's two-way players.

From demanding a faster practice pace by sprinting down the sideline to doing pushups during training camp, Brown made it clear early he was willing to lead by example.

Much to the delight of a rabid, beam-praising fan base, there's more basketball to be played.

Through two games, Sacramento has looked like a faster, stronger team than the Warriors. While Brown will have to take it one game at a time against the reigning champions just 80 miles away, he made his high expectations for the Kings known before the playoffs started:

"We're trying to win a championship like everybody else," he said.