Kings officially announce Christie as team's next head coach

It's official. The to Doug Christie's job description.

The Kings announced Thursday morning that Christie has been named head coach. first reported the news Tuesday morning, citing sources, which later was confirmed to 온라인카지노사이트 Sports California.

"After careful consideration, I am excited to announce Doug Christie as the next head coach of the Sacramento Kings,” Kings general manager Scott Perry said in a statement. “I've known Doug a long time and have been impressed with his leadership, presence, and ability to connect deeply with his players. He embodies the core values we believe in — toughness, discipline, professionalism, a defensive mindset, and a selfless, team-oriented approach on offense.

"Our goal is to support him fully and help set the stage for his long-term success. We’re excited to move forward with Doug as our leader."

Christie took over for Mike Brown, who was fired in late December following a 13-18 start to the 2024-25 NBA season. Under Christie, the Kings went 27-24 and finished as the Western Conference's No. 9 seed.

Prior to serving as interim coach, Christie was an assistant coach with Sacramento for three seasons. From 2017 to 2021, he served as the team's full-time color analyst.

“I am deeply humbled to be named head coach of the Sacramento Kings," Christie said in a statement. "This organization and city have been home for over 20 years. I want to thank the Kings organization and Scott for their support during this process.

"For me, this opportunity is all about service to the team, the organization, and the city of Sacramento. My family and I couldn’t be more excited for this new chapter.”

After Sacramento's season-ending NBA play-in loss to the Dallas Mavericks, Sacramento replaced former general manager Monte McNair with longtime executive Scott Perry. While speaking at his introductory press conference last week, Perry didn't want to disclose too much information on the coaching search but detailed his relationship with Christie over the years.

"What I can tell you is I spent time with Doug Christie already," Perry said during his introductory press conference last week. "I first met Doug Christie when he was a player at Toronto, so I admired him as a player, his career. I've watched him this year from afar in terms of his ability to have a presence on the court. I think he's made a connection with players.

"We've had a few conversations up to this point. He was one of the first people I met with yesterday when I got into town."

Perry added that his phone had been "incessantly" ringing with other potential coaching candidates interested in the job, and that he wanted to have a few more conversations before making a final decision.

Amongst the fired coaches who potentially were available for a new coaching gig are: Mike Budenholzer (last with Phoenix Suns), Michael Malone (last with Denver Nuggets) and Taylor Jenkins (last with Memphis Grizzlies).

And depending on how the rest of the NBA playoffs shake out, several other possible candidates could have become available, such as Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers, who currently is trying to dig his team out of a first-round playoff exit.

But Perry seemingly didn't want to wait any longer. With a busy offseason ahead, he ticked one box off his long to-do list.

Christie, who from 2000 to 2005, has a personal love and appreciation for the organization and city of Sacramento. You could see it through his emotions and feel it through his words each and every time he spoke at a pre- or postgame podium.

“This is where I want to be,” Christie said after the Kings' season-ending loss. “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.”

He also had support from several of his players.

"He did a good job for us when he came in, he tried to keep it real simple for us," Kings guard Keon Ellis said during end-of-season exit interviews. "We have some really talented players on our team, so just try not to overdo anything, and let us go out there and be pros. He definitely didn't want to do too much. ... As far as his professionalism and his leadership, I think that's a big thing when you're talking about Doug. Former player. He has respect from everyone.

"I think he's telling us the right things game in, game out, practice, whatever. The messages he's given us are either the ones you don't want to hear or the tough ones we need to hear. So just keeping it real with us and if you have that, you're not going into any game with him telling you something that it's not going to be. I think he did a good job at that. Those are the things that you need."

Players during their exit interviews also talked about longing for some organizational stability and consistency, something lacking in Sacramento for several years. Perhaps hiring a man who has been tied to the franchise for more than two decades is the first step in bringing just that.