Smith believes Christie is ‘worthy’ of Kings removing interim tag originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
The Kings appear to have found new life under Doug Christie, and TNT analyst Kenny Smith believes the organization should reward its interim coach with a title change.
Following Sacramento’s dismissal of Mike Brown in December, Christie slid into the team’s head-coaching role after serving as an assistant since the 2021-22 NBA season. And so far, Smith likes what he sees.
“Doug’s doing great,” Smith told NBC Sports California’s Monte Poole and Bonta Hill in an exclusive interview. “You know, he was handed something in the middle of season. You’re trying to implement things that you might have seen, and as assistant coach, some of the things you probably agreed with already with Mike Brown, because he was on his staff. So you can’t say you didn’t agree with some of the some of the things, but then you’re trying to piecemeal the things that didn’t work. …
“It’s different when you’re two chairs over, right? Because the relationship between assistant coach and a player is way different. The assistant coach, players tell everything. They talk about the head coach. You’re one of the guys. You move two seats over, you are not one of the guys. You don’t get any of the privy information. You don’t know where they’re going after the game. You don’t know the family members, nobody. The kids don’t talk to you. So he’s got a different job, and he’s doing great.
“Mike was Coach of the Year a couple years ago, but I feel excited for Doug to move two seats over. I think he’s worthy of it. I think he’s going to do a heck of a job. They should take the interim tag off. He knows the players, and he’s doing a good job.”
Christie’s relationship with the players has translated to success on the court for the Kings so far. Sacramento is 15-9 under Christie compared to its 13-18 start to the 2024-25 season under Brown, and the team’s offensive rating, fourth-quarter points per game, points per game and 3-point percentage all have improved with Christie at the helm.
The Kings took a 28-27 record into the NBA All-Star break and currently hold the Western Conference’s No. 9 seed — good enough for a Play-In Tournament berth if the regular season ended today. Still, they’re just 3.5 games out of the No. 6 seed and an outright NBA playoff spot.
Sacramento has to feel confident in its chances with Christie leading the charge, especially after acquiring Zach LaVine and Jonas Valančiūnas at the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline. And if their new coach’s title becomes official, there’s no telling what kind of spark it could bring.
