The Kings will remove the interim tag from Doug Christie and make him their permanent head coach, according to Shams Charania of ESPN, who reports that the two sides are finalizing the details of a multiyear contract.
Formerly an assistant coach under Mike Brown, Christie was elevated to head coach in December following Brown’s dismissal and led Sacramento to a 27-24 record following a 13-18 start.
As Charania notes, the Kings went 13-10 in clutch-time games under Christie after posting a 6-13 mark in those contests under Brown early in the season.
A former NBA shooting guard, Christie spent five of his 15 seasons as a player in Sacramento and was employed as a color commentator for Kings games before being hired by the franchise as an assistant during the 2021 offseason.
Christie, who initially served under Luke Walton, remained in his role as an assistant when the club parted ways with Walton and promoted Alvin Gentry to replace him during the 2021/22 season, and again when the Kings hired Brown in 2022.
This is Christie’s first stint as an NBA head coach, though he had previously gained a little experience in that role as a Kings assistant — he coached the team in December 2021 when Gentry missed time due to COVID-19 and later coached Sacramento’s Summer League team in July 2024.
After winning 20 of their first 31 games under Christie, the Kings lost 13 of their last 20 and were eliminated in the play-in tournament by a depleted Mavericks team, costing them a shot at a playoff berth.
That underwhelming finish to the season led to some speculation that the team might launch a full-fledged coaching search, but team owner Vivek Ranadive is said to be a fan of Christie, and reporting in the wake of Scott Perry‘s hiring as Sacramento’s new general manager indicated that the interim coach was well-positioned to hang onto the job.
According to Charania, Christie is expected to revamp his coaching staff this offseason after having inherited Brown’s assistants in the winter.