Kings interim coach Christie seeks unique revenge from playing days originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Kings interim coach Doug Christie is in a unique position to seek revenge from his playing days.
Christie — and several others connected to Sacramento — still has a bad taste in his mouth imagining what could’ve been during those early 2000s seasons with the Kings. They made four consecutive Western Conference semifinal appearances and one trip to the conference finals during the 2001-02 season, which ended in heartbreak and controversy with a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in a series that went all the way to a down-to-the-wire Game 7.
More than two decades later and now temporarily sitting in the head-coaching chair following the firing of Mike Brown, Christie has one goal in mind now at the helm of the team he loves: win the NBA championship his teams never did.
Before Tuesday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks and riding a seven-game win streak, Christie was asked if any of his former teammates from his playing days have reached out to him about his then-7-1 record as interim head coach.
“Mike [Bibby] popped in the other day when we were playing [the] Miami [Heat] in the morning when I was working,” Christie said. “[Chris Webber] has texted me numerous times. Bobby [Jackson] has texted me numerous times. Peja [Stojakovic] and Vlade [Divac], things that I can’t say, but they definitely have texted me. It’s nothing but love for all those guys because without them, I’m not sitting here.
“I think we all understand what I’m here to do, and I think they do. And that’s probably why they text me. Because they understand it’s not about me, it’s more about our team first of all, but also our city and our organization, to try to do what we were so close to doing and we didn’t accomplish it.”
Sacramento’s win streak ended with a humbling 130-115 loss to Milwaukee on Tuesday night, but Christie undoubtedly has helped turn the season around during a turbulent time. The Kings, 20-20 and 10th in the Western Conference, dug themselves out of a hole but still have plenty of work to do.
The current players thus far have bought into Christie’s messaging, and even though it’s unknown what the coach’s role with the team will be moving forward, what’s perfectly clear is what his goal would be if he kept the job long-term.
Win.
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