Christie refuses to give Kings ‘freedom’ after loss to Lakers

Christie refuses to give Kings ‘freedom’ 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 that.

Less than 36 hours away from the Kings’ dismissal of Mike BrownSacramento 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, the six-time NBA All-Star reminds that the Kings’ locker room may not have had enough time to get a handle on what was supposedly the general manager Monte McNair’s decision.

“I mean, everything is a little different because you’re used to coach Brown coming in and talking,” DeRozan told reporters. “Not seeing makes the difference.

“I think everyone was in shock yesterday when they found out and kind of didn’t have time to let it sink in. It still hasn’t fully sunk in, probably tomorrow when we go in and watch movies and everything, it’s hard to say right now.”

Brown, who led practice and addressed the media on Friday, was expected to coach DeRozan and Co. on Saturday. That quickly changed when McNair snubbed the unanimous winner of the 2022-23 NBA Coach of the Year award after a 13-18 start.

With little time on his hands, McNair approached assistant coach and former Kings guard Doug Christie to take over as interim coach for the remainder of the 2024–25 NBA season.

Under Christie, the Kings allowed as many as 40 points in the first quarter against the Lakers and fell by as much as 20 points early in the fourth quarter.

But behind a ferocious 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 that to happen soon.

“First of all, we have enough,” Christie said after the loss. “And that’s a message I told them.

“There’s enough in this dressing room, but how we get over it are the things I’ve been talking 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 makes so bad that I have to quit the game.

“Like, it’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 it. They’re the best in the world. I’m trying to put putting them in positions to make them shine, and that’s a big difference from being an assistant coach.”

Known for his relentless and physical nature during his playing days, Christie expects a similar hard-nosed style of play from his team.

And while 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 into it.

He wants results. Soon.

“But I’m here for the challenge and I appreciate them giving me everything they got,” Christie added. “But the pain it takes, we’ll need it again. And again. And again.

“Every time. There’s no wiggle room with it. 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 on the ball floor because there’s enough in the locker room to get it to happen.”

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