Kings interim coach Doug Christie is the biggest success story in the NBA right now and the franchise’s star players explain how he’s made such an impact.
Before Christie took over, the Kings were six games under .500 and 12th in the West under Mike Brown.
Now, the team is ninth with a 21-20 record – just one-half game behind eighth-place Minnesota.
The energy shift at the franchise is palpable, which obviously helps when you’re winning, but Christie’s presence also seems to be part of it, Kings star point guard De’Aaron Fox says.
“I think everybody’s in good spirits,” Fox said. “Obviously, whenever you’re winning, those things raise a bit. But Doug’s that type of guy. He lights up a room.
“And like I said before, going from the fourth guy on the bench to being the first guy on the bench, it exudes even more because you’re the guy standing up. You’re the guy everybody sees.”
Offensively, the Kings are averaging more than seven points extra under Christie and over the last ten games have an offensive rating of 118.2 and a defensive rating of 112.7.
Domantas Sabonis says the interim coach has simplified things, which has been a big help.
“(Christie is) calling three or four plays,” Sabonis said. “One for DeMar [DeRozan], one for Foxy (De’Aaron Fox) and one for me. He’s trusting his main guys to create the advantage, and then everyone plays off that.”
Having the constant of Christie in Sacramento has seemingly put the team at ease, since he’s gone from player to broadcaster to assistant to now interim coach.
“It’s always been good,” Fox shared of his relationship with Christie. “Even when he was doing the broadcasting, he was always around. He was always in the gym. Obviously he wasn’t working with us hands-on, but he was always around. He’s just always been a great guy. He always has a smile on his face when he comes in here.
“And like I said, he just lights up the room whenever he enters it, and you kind of see that within the guys right now.”
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