SACRAMENTO – In the hours after the Kings’ season ended with a thud in their 120-106 NBA play-in loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday while he was still wrestling with his emotions, Doug Christie made it clear he wants to keep the head coaching job in Sacramento.
“This is where I want to be,” said Christie, who said there have not been any discussions with management yet about his future with the team. “I need to finish what I started, and that’s the only reason I ever stepped onto the sideline from where I was at initially. I had to exorcise some demons for myself.”
Christie guided the Kings to a 27-24 record after taking over the reigns when the Kings fired 2022-23 NBA Coach of the Year Mike Brown after 31 games.
Under Christie’s guidance the Kings took off, winning 10 of 12 games while nudging themselves back into the NBA playoff picture.
The good times didn’t last much longer than that. Sacramento fell into a funk down the stretch of the regular season, losing nine of the final 13 games heading into Wednesday’s play-in game at Golden 1 Center.
That the Kings lost the way that they did didn’t help Christie’s cause much, although he still has overwhelming support from the players.
Zach LaVine, who was obtained in a midseason trade, praised Christie for keeping the team together despite a ton of distractions.
“Doug did an incredible job of stepping in with the circumstances that he had and trying to rally the guys,” LaVine said. “And with me coming here a little bit later, with us going through some ups and downs … he definitely helped keep this group together on and off the court. You have to take your hat off to him in those situations. Anything above that as a player is above my pay grade.
“I’ve been a player that’s had eight head coaches in my career. I go out there, I try to play my heart out for whoever’s there. Obviously we love Doug, but players like us don’t make those decisions.”
The Christie situation took on a new twist late Wednesday when reports surfaced that the Kings and general manager Monte McNair have mutually agreed to part ways, although no official statement was released.
Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé might want to keep Christie around because of the player support he received, and because it would mean less change in the offseason.
Conversely, it’s common practice in all professional sports for a new GM to come in and make sweeping changes to the roster and, more specifically, the coaching staff.
Christie has multiple reasons for wanting to keep the job. Primary atop the list is to quiet the critics.
“More than anything is when you hear the narratives that are written by people who are not here and just have random stuff to say,” Christie said. “It irks me because they don’t know this incredible fan base. It’s an incredible organization. When it’s right and you’re going around beating the hell out of people, not a lot of people got a lot to say. But when you’re getting your butt beat, they got a lot to say. I feel you, but when that tide turns and the rabbit’s got the gun, then we’ll see.
“We have to create a culture that is highly competitive but highly positive at the same time because that’s who I am. It’s a tough thing, but you just keep going until we get to where we’re going.”
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