Following a season-opening win over the Jazz, Kings coach Mike Brown despairs over Maine shooting

Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown was walking into the postgame press conference room at the Delta Center on Wednesday night when someone informed him that there had been a mass shooting in Maine.

On Wednesday night at least 22 people were dead after a man opened fire at three different locations in Maine, including a bowling alley and a bar. At the time of writing, the suspect remained at large.

Once Brown sat down in front of reporters, the fact that his team had won its 2023-24 season opener against the Jazz didn’t matter very much.

“I don’t know everything that’s going on and I’m not that smart,” Brown said. “But I know we, as a country, have got to do something … it’s sad that we sit here and watch this happen time after time, after time, after time, and nobody does anything about it.”

Jazz head coach Will Hardy left the arena before learning about the events that had taken place in Lewiston, Maine on Wednesday evening. The same can be said for a number of players and staffers from both teams.

But Brown, who was processing the information he’d just been told, said he couldn’t think about the basketball game.

“I don’t even want to talk basketball, I’m sorry,” Brown said. “We played a game. It was fun. Obviously we won. But if we can’t do anything to fix this, it’s over. It’s over for our country.”