Mike Woodson Reportedly Agrees to Kings' Associate HC Contract Under Doug Christie

After his Indiana exit, Mike Woodson is reportedly making his return to the NBA.

Per ESPN's Shams Charania, Woodson agreed to a deal to become the Sacramento Kings' associate head coach under Doug Christie. Woodson was an assistant and head coach in the NBA from 1996 to 2021 before joining Indiana.

Woodson played in the NBA from 1980 to 1991, including a four-year stint with the Kings from 1982 to 1986. He landed his first coaching job as an assistant for the Milwaukee Bucks in 1996 and proceeded to serve as an assistant for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Philadelphia 76ers and Detroit Pistons.

In 2004, Woodson took over as the Atlanta Hawks' head coach. Under Woodson, the Hawks made the playoffs three times and reached the second round twice.

After Atlanta didn't re-sign him to a new contract following the 2009-10 season, Woodson joined the New York Knicks coaching staff as an assistant for two years before taking over as head coach in 2012 following Mike D'Antoni's resignation. He led the Knicks to two playoff appearances before being fired in 2014.

He was an assistant for the Los Angeles Clippers from 2014 to 2018 and rejoined the Knicks coaching staff in 2020 as an assistant.

After more than two decades in the NBA world, Woodson landed his first collegiate coaching job in 2021 when he took over at his alma mater, Indiana. His time with the Hoosiers was mostly disappointing, as he only reached the tournament twice and never made it past the second round.

In February, it was announced that Woodson and Indiana would part ways following the 2024-25 season.

Now joining the Kings, Woodson will look to help Christie find success in his first full season as Sacramento's head coach. Christie, who was named interim head coach after Mike Brown's firing, was hired to be the team's next head coach in April after a strong finish to the season.