Kings interim coach Doug Christie is the biggest success story in the NBA right now and the franchises star players explain how hes made such an impact.
Before Christie took over, the Kings were six games under .500 and 12th in the West under Mike Brown.
Now, the team is ninth with a 21-20 record just one-half game behind eighth-place Minnesota.
The energy shift at the franchise is palpable, which obviously helps when youre winning, but Christies presence also seems to be part of it, Kings star point guard DeAaron Fox says.
I think everybodys in good spirits, Fox said. Obviously, whenever youre winning, those things raise a bit. But Dougs that type of guy. He lights up a room.
And like I said before, going from the fourth guy on the bench to being the first guy on the bench, it exudes even more because youre the guy standing up. Youre the guy everybody sees.
Offensively, the Kings are averaging more than seven points extra under Christie and over the last ten games have an offensive rating of 118.2 and a defensive rating of 112.7.
Domantas Sabonis says the interim coach has simplified things, which has been a big help.
(Christie is) calling three or four plays, Sabonis said. One for DeMar [DeRozan], one for Foxy (DeAaron Fox) and one for me. Hes trusting his main guys to create the advantage, and then everyone plays off that.
Having the constant of Christie in Sacramento has seemingly put the team at ease, since hes gone from player to broadcaster to assistant to now interim coach.
Its always been good, Fox shared of his relationship with Christie. Even when he was doing the broadcasting, he was always around. He was always in the gym. Obviously he wasnt working with us hands-on, but he was always around. Hes just always been a great guy. He always has a smile on his face when he comes in here.
And like I said, he just lights up the room whenever he enters it, and you kind of see that within the guys right now.
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