Kings coach Mike Brown fined $50,000 for using laptop to criticize referees after ejection in loss to Bucks
Damian Lillard hit a deep buzzer-beater to give the Bucks a tight 143-142 overtime win over the Kings on Sunday night
Mike Brown was so upset with the officiating Sunday night that, after he was ejected, he pulled out a laptop to critique the referees at Fiserv Forum.
Naturally, that led to a $50,000 fine from the league.
Brown was ejected early in the fourth quarter of the Sacramento Kings’ 143-142 overtime loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday when he stormed onto the court and started screaming at referee Intae Hwang while cutting him off along the sideline. Brown had to be held back by players, and he was quickly directed off the court.
Mike Brown had to be held back by Malik Monk after he was ejected from tonight's game 😬 pic.twitter.com/t36hpcy05g
— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) January 15, 2024
So during the rest of the fourth quarter and overtime, Brown got to work. He whipped up a presentation of sorts and came prepared to his postgame news conference with clips of mistakes he felt the referees made.
"The referees are human, and they're going to make mistakes,” Brown said. “But you just hope, A, that there's some sort of consistency, and, B, there's some sort of communication between the refs. The refs tonight, they were great. They communicated with me all night. … But the consistency that I’ve seen tonight, in my opinion, wasn’t there.”
Mike Brown lights into the refereeing tonight in the Kings loss in Milwaukee. Brings out a laptop in his press conference to show film of the non-foul and foul that has him ticked off. Here is the five minute soundbite. pic.twitter.com/Q8InpkFh8B
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) January 15, 2024
Brown pointed out two plays specifically. The first was when Bucks star Damian Lillard — who hit a wild game-winning buzzer-beater in overtime — drew a foul on a shot from behind the 3-point line in the third quarter. He then pointed to a play in the fourth quarter when De’Aaron Fox was hooked by the Bucks’ Cam Payne in the fourth quarter but didn’t get a foul call.
“They’re human. They’re good people. They’re gonna make mistakes,” Brown said of the officials. “But we can’t interpret a rule two different ways. … I’m beside myself. Now, we had a chance to win the game and we didn’t get it done. But I’m telling you, man, to go through that, it’s tough, man. It’s tough to go through that.”
Brown was relatively calm throughout the entire presentation. His reaction was far different than what Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković did after his team fell to the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this month. Rajaković went off on an explosive rant and pounded on the table while calling the referees and the NBA shameful, which led to a $25,000 fine.
But as Brown was very openly criticizing the officials, and he used a prop, the NBA opted to fine him $50,000 on Tuesday afternoon.
The Kings rallied back from a 12-point hole in the fourth quarter to force overtime and took a two-point lead in the final seconds of the extra period. Lillard, however, drilled a deep buzzer-beater from just inside the logo to seal the one-point win for Milwaukee.
Fox led the Kings with 32 points in the loss after he shot 12-of-26 from the field. Malik Monk added 28 points off the bench, and Kevin Huerter dropped 26 points on six 3-pointers. The Kings have now lost two straight games headed into Tuesday’s matchup with the Phoenix Suns and sit in sixth place in the Western Conference standings.
Lillard led the Bucks with 29 points and eight assists, and he made five 3-pointers in the win. Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with a triple-double with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, and Malik Beasley dropped 23 points. The Bucks have won three straight.
