Kings coach Brown fined $35K for aggressively pursuing ref
Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown was fined $35,000 for "aggressively pursuing a game official during live play" in the second quarter of the Kings' loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday, the NBA announced Tuesday.
The incident occurred after the Kings' Colby Jones went up for a layup on a fast break but was stopped at the rim by Ben Simmons. There was no call on the play despite a lot of contact and Jones ending up out of bounds on the floor. The Nets then took the ball the other way, leading to a three from Noah Clowney that put Brooklyn up by 19.
Brown chased down referee Scott Twardoski to express his frustration with the non-call and earned a technical foul. He got right into Twardoski's face and needed to be pulled away by De'Aaron Fox, Malik Monk, and his assistant coaches.
The Nets' Cam Thomas went on to miss the technical free throw, to the delight of Kings fans at Golden 1 Center. However, Brooklyn got the last laugh with a 108-103 victory backed by Thomas' game-high 34 points.
Brown was fined $50,000 last season for "aggressively pursuing" an official during a Jan. 16 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks and then publicly criticizing the officiating. He brought a laptop to the postgame press conference and showed clips of decisions he disagreed with.
The Kings are 8-10 this campaign and in the midst of a four-game losing streak. They return to action Wednesday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.