The Kings will take away the interim tag from Doug Christie and make him their everlasting head coach, in line with Shams Charania of ESPN, who reviews that the 2 sides are finalizing the small print of a multiyear contract.
Previously an assistant coach below Mike Brown, Christie was elevated to go coach in December following Brown’s dismissal and led Sacramento to a 27-24 document following a 13-18 begin.
As Charania notes, the Kings went 13-10 in clutch-time video games below Christie after posting a 6-13 mark in these contests below Brown early within the season.
A former NBA capturing guard, Christie spent 5 of his 15 seasons as a participant in Sacramento and was employed as a coloration commentator for Kings video games earlier than being employed by the franchise as an assistant throughout the 2021 offseason.
Christie, who initially served below Luke Walton, remained in his function as an assistant when the membership parted methods with Walton and promoted Alvin Gentry to interchange him throughout the 2021-22 season, and once more when the Kings employed Brown in 2022.
That is Christie’s first stint as an NBA head coach, although he had beforehand gained a bit of expertise in that function as a Kings assistant — he coached the crew in December 2021 when Gentry missed time on account of COVID-19 and later coached Sacramento’s Summer season League crew in July 2024.
After successful 20 of their first 31 video games below Christie, the Kings misplaced 13 of their final 20 and have been eradicated within the play-in match by a depleted Mavericks crew, costing them a shot at a playoff berth.
That underwhelming end to the season led to some hypothesis that the crew may launch a full-fledged teaching search, however crew proprietor Vivek Ranadive is said to be a fan of Christie, and reporting within the wake of Scott Perry‘s hiring as Sacramento’s new basic supervisor indicated that the interim coach was well-positioned to hold onto the job.
Based on Charania, Christie is anticipated to revamp his teaching employees this offseason after having inherited Brown’s assistants within the winter.
