A few weeks ago, it was announced that Scott Perry would be the heir apparent as general manager after Monte McNair and the Sacramento Kings parted ways. This week, Perry made his first major decision as the leader of the front office, choosing to remove Doug Christie's interim tag and make him the team's official head coach heading into the 2025-26 NBA season.
Some speculated that the decision may have been a result of Perry trying to appease team co-owner and chairman Vivek Ranadive, who has long voiced his trust in Christie's abilities as a coach. However, it appears that Perry at least had a few other reasons for choosing to keep Christie on board.
Why Perry decided to keep Doug Christie
On Thursday, Perry told media in an official statement why he chose to stick with Christie over trying to search for a brand new head coach. Here is what he had to say:
“After careful consideration, I am excited to announce Doug Christie as the next head coach of the Sacramento Kings. I've known Doug a long time and have been impressed with his leadership, presence, and ability to connect deeply with his players," Perry said.
“He embodies the core values we believe in — toughness, discipline, professionalism, a defensive mindset, and a selfless, team-oriented approach on offense. Our goal is to support him fully and help set the stage for his long-term success. We’re excited to move forward with Doug as our leader."
Christie was, of course, an integral part of the most successful era of Kings basketball. In the four full seasons he was in uniform (he only spent half of the 2004-05 season with the team), the Kings never won less than 55 games, and they won five total playoff series during that time.
Christie was their three-and-D ace, earning three All-Defensive Second Team honors and an All-Defense First time nod in 2002-03. He also hit 36.2% of his threes in 355 regular season games with the team. I'm sure part of the reason Perry wants to keep Christie around is to turn Keegan Murray into that type of player for this current iteration of the roster.
Christie also performed relatively well for them, given the harsh circumstances he was thrust into. After a 13-18 start under his predecessor, Mike Brown, the Kings went 27-24 under Christie's guidance. The Kings were ninth in offensive rating, 23rd in defensive rating, and 16th in net rating during that time.
Given how imbalanced their current roster is and how difficult their cap sheet makes them to re-tool, it'll be an uphill battle for Christie to guide the team to greener pastures. However, if there is anyone tough enough to endure this challenge, Christie seems to be the man for the job.