Coach Doug Christie promises to fans, and haters, that he will 'figure things out' with the Sacramento Kings. By Stats Perform Video via VideoElephant
A dismal start to the season led to speculation that Sacramento Kings coach Doug Christie’s job could already be in jeopardy, but he appears to be safe for now.
Kings general manager Scott Perry has given Christie a vote of confidence, publicly stating that he believes Christie is the right man to lead the team into the future despite its early struggles this season.
Christie was asked what Perry’s remarks meant to him during his pregame press conference before the Kings faced the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday.
“His backing, the alignment from him, is huge,” Christie said. “He hasn’t said anything to me differently, so I’m glad that he said that (publicly). More than anything, it’s about us playing a style and a brand of basketball that Sacramento Kings fans can be proud of.
“On the path to that, there are a lot of steps to that, but first things first. I appreciate that from Scott. Obviously, when the boss speaks highly of you, it’s a good thing.”
Christie was proud of his team’s effort after the Kings overcame a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves in overtime, winning 117-112 before a crowd of 16,957 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
The Kings (5-13) have won consecutive games for the first time this season after beating the Denver Nuggets on Saturday to snap an eight-game losing streak. They followed that with an inspired effort against the Timberwolves (10-7), showing more fight than they have all season.
Christie led the Kings to a 27-24 after taking over as interim coach when Mike Brown was fired last December. Perry chose to keep Christie as his head coach after being hired to replace former general manager Monte McNair.
Christie has enormous pride in the Kings, their fans and the city of Sacramento after playing a key role at the height of the team’s success under Rick Adelman in the early 2000s. He wants nothing more than to bring winning basketball back to Sacramento, but this season has been a struggle.
The Kings faced the NBA’s most difficult schedule over the first month of the season while dealing with significant injuries to Keegan Murray and Domantas Sabonis. They have already endured an eight-game losing streak while tying the worst 16-game start in franchise history, going 3-13 to match the 25-win team from 1990-91.
The Kings have lost games by 27, 31, 33 and 41 points, leading Christie to call out the lack of competitive spirit he was seeing from his team. Some began to wonder if Christie was losing the locker room, but he still has Perry’s support and the Kings have responded with two impressive wins.
“He has a lot of natural leadership qualities,” Perry said in a recent interview with The Athletic’s Sam Amick. “He’s very passionate and emotional about the Sacramento Kings. Obviously, he was part of, really, the last team that had that sustainable success we talked about. So this means a great deal to him. And this is his first year as a head coach, so there’s a learning curve for him as well. But I’ve got complete confidence, and the organization does as well, that he’s going to be able to lead this team into better times.”
Perry went on to say that Christie is doing everything in his power to bring winning basketball back to Sacramento.
“I think he would be the first to say to you that we’re not where we want to be,” Perry said. “We have not achieved that consistent competitive product on the floor. We have not consistently started to show the identity that is necessary to create that sustainable winner. But I can tell you, as well as say it to the Sacramento community, that this guy is working extremely hard to push every single button to do so. I’ve been around long enough to know that coaching’s not easy. I’m a former coach, and it’s a difficult, tough task. But I believe he’s up to it. I’m confident that he’s up to it, and we’ll continue to support him, and to help him, like we’re going to do with our young players. ... I want to play a part in helping him develop as a head coach, and in him being the one to ultimately lead us towards that sustainable winning that we’ve talked about.”