LOS ANGELES – Doug Christie rapped along to the lyrics of Ice Cube’s “It Was a Good Day” Saturday morning as the song echoed through the gym at USC’s Galen Center at the end of his first shootaround as interim coach of the Sacramento Kings.
More than 30 years after Christie was a rookie with the Los Angeles Lakers, he found himself back in LA preparing to face the Lakers – his first game since taking over for Mike Brown, who was fired Friday afternoon before the team left for the West. Coast.
It’s been anything but a good season so far for the Kings, ranked No. 13 in the Western Conference with a 13-18 record, having lost five straight games and twelve of their last seventeen.
However, Kings guard Malik Monk — who credited Brown’s “passion” with turning around the Kings franchise over the past two seasons — said the coaching change resulted in an energy shift during the shootaround session.
“All the vibes were high,” Monk said. “Everyone is happy. Everyone is ready to play tonight.”
The group ready to play included All-Star big man Domantas Sabonis. He missed Sacramento’s final game Thursday due to an illness, as the Kings failed to secure a 19-point second-half lead in a 114-113 loss to the Detroit Pistons.
Sabonis did not accompany the team on the flight to LA as he was questionable to play due to the illness, but arranged his own travel on Saturday morning to be part of the first steps with Christie.
“I came here and went right onto the court,” Sabonis said. “We are all focused on winning the match. But of course we know that we have not performed at our best. And we have to do a better job. As one of the leaders of the team, I have to make sure that happens. We have to win all the games we can.”
After the Pistons game, Brown called out another of Sacramento’s leaders in De’Aaron Fox for fouling Jaden Ivey on a 3-pointer in the waning seconds, with the Kings leading by 3. Ivey hit the 3 and the subsequent free throw, which cost him dearly. the kings the game.
Before Brown was fired, he was leading the Kings practice on Friday and was seen by reporters talking to Fox on the court.
“We were talking about things in the game, what we were going to do towards the end of the games,” Fox said after shootaround. “I absolutely didn’t know that that little conversation – which is very normal – would have been the last one with him as head coach.”
Brown was informed of the decision by Kings general manager Monte McNair, who called him after the 2023 NBA Coach of the Year had already left the practice facility to get ready for the flight to LA.
Sabonis, who said he was asleep when the decision was made, called it “shocking.” Monk said he found out on X, formerly known as Twitter, and was also shocked, but added, “It’s the NBA. Anything can happen. So, next man up, I guess.”
Fox said he was “surprised” but that he got a taste of what was to come. “I found out about it a minute before everyone else,” he said.
After Brown signed an extension this offseason through 2026-27 — adding more than $20 million in guaranteed money to what he was already owed — Fox praised the continuity of the Kings organization.
A reporter asked Fox on Saturday if he felt any “pressure or guilt” about the way things with Brown were moving so quickly.
“Any pressure or guilt? I mean, obviously we all know the job that we have,” Fox said. “You can be traded at any time. Released. Cut. Dismissed. Whatever it may be. I mean, I wouldn’t use the word “guilt.” But that’s the nature of the job we have.
“But I mean, obviously he signed his extension this summer. We felt like we were going to be together a lot longer, but that’s the decision they made. But at the end of the day, he still gets paid. A lot of the cost .” As an NBA player and an NBA coach, there are things like that that can happen, but these contracts are guaranteed.”
Christie addressed the team before the flight to LA and again at the Galen Center. His message?
“To come out and stick together, fight and just be us, be who we are and turn this thing around,” Sabonis said.
And Monk had a message of his own for Kings fans who saw their team break a 17-year postseason drought in 2023, only to have their coach fired two seasons later.
“Sorry, fans,” Monk said. ‘We’re going to turn it around. That’s it. Short and sweet.’