Doug Christie, Kings Reportedly Finalizing Multiyear Contract as Full-Time Head Coach

Doug Christie is reportedly closing in on a deal to officially become the next head coach of the Sacramento Kings.

According to ESPN's Shams Charania, Christie and the Kings are finalizing a multiyear contract that will see Christie take over full-time after a stint as the team's interim head coach.

Christie spent much of the 2024-25 season as the Kings' interim head coach following the firing of Mike Brown, posting a 27-24 record over 51 games.

When Christie became interim head coach, the Kings were just 13-18, but he helped turn the season around and get them into the postseason play-in tournament with an overall mark of 40-42.

A loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the play-in eliminated the Kings from playoff contention, but it wasn't a horrible result considering how the season started under Brown.

Christie, 54, first entered the coaching ranks as a Kings assistant in 2021, leaving his position as a color commentator to do so.

He was a stalwart in the Kings organization long before he ever got into coaching, though, as he spent five of his 15 seasons as an NBA guard in Sacramento.

Christie also played for the Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Orlando Magic, Mavericks and Los Angeles Clippers during a playing career that spanned from 1992 to 2007.

In 827 career regular-season games, Christie averaged 11.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.9 steals.

His greatest success came with the Kings, as he was a one-time NBA All-Defensive first-team selection and three-time NBA All-Defensive second-team selection, plus he finished in the top five of the NBA Defensive Player of the Year voting twice.

As the Kings' new head coach, Christie has a potentially tough job ahead of him based on the organization's overall lack of success over the past several years.

Sacramento has reached the playoffs only once in the past 19 seasons, and it has not won a playoff series since 2004 when Christie was still playing for the team.

On top of that, the Kings traded arguably their best player in guard De'Aaron Fox to the San Antonio Spurs back in February, bringing back Zach LaVine as part of the deal.

The Kings have an aging team, as LaVine, Domantas Sabonis, DeMar DeRozan and Jonas Valančiūnas will all be 29 years of age or older by the start of next season.

That suggests a rebuild could be in the Kings' future, especially since Sabonis and possibly LaVine could bring back some significant value in offseason trades.

If that happens, one can only assume the Kings will give Christie ample time to get a younger, retooled Kings roster back on track.