Disconnect Between Doug Christie, Kings Players?

While the Kings have been playing poorly for most of the year, they’ve especially struggled in recent weeks, having lost 15 of their last 18 games and seven of their past eight. Amid that extended slump, sources tell Spears that there’s a “disconnect” between some of the players on the roster and head coach Doug Christie and his coaching staff.

Christie, who took over as the Kings’ head coach midway through the 2024/25 season after Mike Brown was fired, led the team to a 27-24 record to close out the year. Although Sacramento was quickly dispatched in the play-in round and overhauled its front office in the spring, Christie was retained and given the head coaching job on a permanent basis under new general manager Scott Perry.

After one stretch of losses in early November, Christie ripped into his team for what he referred to as a “shameful” effort. He has eased off on that sort of public criticism of his players in recent weeks despite a lack of improvement in the standings, presumably opting to take a different tack as he attempts to get the most out of his roster.

Perry told Sam Amick of The Athletic a few weeks ago that he has “complete confidence” in Christie to “lead this team into better times,” suggesting that management isn’t considering a coaching change. And even if Christie isn’t seeing eye-to-eye with some of his players, the trade rumors constantly circulating around the team suggest that the head coach could end up sticking around Sacramento longer than some of those players will.

Still, the Kings didn’t exactly make a lucrative, long-term commitment to Christie when they named him their permanent coach in the spring. Amick reported in October that Christie’s new contract is only guaranteed for two seasons and he’s only making about $2MM annually during those two years, which is well below the average salary for an NBA head coach. In other words, if Sacramento does want to make another coaching change before Christie’s contract is up, the financial penalty wouldn’t be significant.