Christie refuses to give Kings ‘grace period’ after loss to Lakers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
It takes time to process the sudden firing of a head coach – and DeMar DeRozan can attest to it.
Less than 36 hours removed from the Kings’ dismissal of Mike Brown, Sacramento fell to a LeBron James-less Los Angeles Lakers team 132-122 on Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena, extending the team’s losing skid to six games.
And, at the same time, reminding the six-time NBA All-Star that perhaps the Kings’ locker room hasn’t had enough time to come to grips with what reportedly was general manager Monte McNair’s decision.
“I mean, everything is kind of different because you’re accustomed to coach Brown coming in and talking,” DeRozan told reporters. “Not seeing makes the difference.
“I think everybody was all in shock yesterday finding out and, kind of, not having time to let it sink in. It still hasn’t fully sunk in, probably tomorrow when we go in and watch film and everything. It’s hard to say right now.”
Brown, who led practice and addressed the media on Friday, was projected to be coaching DeRozan and Co. on Saturday. That quickly changed when McNair dismissed the unanimous winner of the 2022-23 NBA Coach of the Year award after a 13-18 start.
With little time in hand, McNair turned to assistant coach and former Kings guard Doug Christie to take over as interim coach for the rest of the 2024-25 NBA season.
Under Christie, the Kings allowed a whopping 40 points in the first quarter against the Lakers and went down by as much as 20 points early in the fourth quarter.
But behind a fierce late-game effort from star guard De’Aaron Fox and Co., Sacramento managed to trim the deficit to as little as six points before losing its footing again in the closing minutes.
Despite the uphill battle that presents itself in Sacramento, Christie knows the Kings have enough talent to return to winning ways – and he expects it to happen soon.
“First thing, we have enough,” Christie said after the loss. “And this is a message I said to them.
“There’s enough in this locker room, but how we get over that are the things I talked about since I’ve been up here. The consistency, the focus, the willingness to play for my teammate at such a high level that it hurts so bad that I need to come out of the game.
“Like, that’s more than anything. There’s enough in that locker room to win ball games, and it’s up to us, it’s up to me, to be able to find that. They are the best in the world. I’m trying to put them in positions to make them shine, and that is a big difference from being an assistant coach.”
Known for his relentlessness and physicality during his playing days, Christie expects a similar hard-nosed playing style from his team.
And although the Kings’ locker room has yet to wrap its head around the fact that Brown is no longer around, Christie isn’t trying to ease his way in.
He wants results. Soon.
“But I’m here for the challenge, and I appreciate them for giving me everything they got,” Christie added. “But that pain that it takes, we’re going to need it again. And again. And again.
“Every time. There’s no wiggle room with that one. And that’s probably the grace period you’re talking about, but I don’t accept grace periods. I expect to win every time we step out on the ball floor because there’s enough in that locker room to make it happen.”
