The Sacramento Kings and general manager Monte McNair mutually agreed to part ways following Wednesday night's play-in tournament loss to the Dallas Mavericks, and a new report from Sam Amick and Anthony Slater of The Athletic detailed the reasons for the breakup.
Chief among them was Sacramento's failure to make it out of the play-in tournament this season. This was the second consecutive season that the Kings failed to make it out of the play-in after the Kings ended their 16-year playoff drought in 2022-23. In that season, McNair was named NBA Executive of the Year.
According to the report from The Athletic, McNair did not want to fire head coach Mike Brown, who was surprisingly dismissed midseason. Following Brown's firing, star guard De'Aaron Fox wanted out, and he was traded at the deadline in a package that brought Zach LaVine to Sacramento. There are also questions about whether McNair was onboard with signing aging veteran DeMar DeRozan last offseason. Ultimately, DeRozan was added in Sacramento.
Finally, tension existed between McNair and owner Vivek Ranadive regarding the future of interim coach Doug Christie. Christie is well positioned to have the interim tag removed according to The Athletic, and Ranadive is seen as a "Christie backer." Given that McNair reportedly didn't want to fire Brown in the first place, it makes sense that he may have been torn on whether or not Christie was the guy to lead the Kings long-term.
Ultimately, it's McNair who is leaving the franchise after a backroom meeting with Ranadive following Wednesday night's loss that resulted in a mutual parting of ways.
More NBA on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Tension Over Mike Brown Firing Led to Monte McNair Dismissal in Sacramento.
