Kings' Brown fined $50K for pursuing game official, criticizing referees

Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown was fined $50,000 for "aggressively pursuing a game official during live play" and "publicly criticizing officiating," the league announced Tuesday.

Brown was ejected in the fourth quarter of the Kings' overtime loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday.

The bench boss took issue with a non-call after Bucks guard Cameron Payne forced Kings All-Star De'Aaron Fox into a turnover. Brown rushed onto the court to confront the referees during live play and had to be restrained by the Kings' Malik Monk and Trey Lyles. Brown was ejected.

During his postgame press conference, the 53-year-old brought out a laptop to play clips of calls he disagreed with.

This is the second time a head coach has been fined in 2024 for comments objecting to the officiating. The league fined the Toronto Raptors' Darko Rajakovic $25,000 on Jan. 11 after he publicly criticized the referees following a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.