On Tuesday, Sacramento Kings head coach Doug Christie made a controversial tactical decision that even the league questioned and investigated. Once the investigation’s results were revealed, Christie found himself in the crosshairs of critics and trolls.
Kings Head Coach Doug Christie is Getting Bashed
The Kings were up by one point (101-100) with a little over three minutes left against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday. However, the Kings seemingly tried to erase their narrow advantage when forward Doug McDermott committed an intentional foul on Seth Curry.
The NBA, which is cracking down hard on tanking, launched an immediate investigation into the puzzling decision, as it seemed like a blatant attempt to lose the game. The investigation revealed that the decision was not made in the spirit of tanking.
Instead, it was because Christie told his players to foul to stop the clock so they could use a timeout that was set to expire at the three-minute mark. He simply did not realize that his team was already over the foul limit, which led to Curry taking free throws.
After the results were revealed, several people came after Christie for his mistake.
“Not tanking! Just bad!” Tankathon.com’s X account wrote.
Not tanking! Just bad! https://t.co/VnYp8Z92LT
— Tankathon.com (@tankathon) April 9, 2026
“Imagine Shams [Charania] tweeting that the coaching you did was so incompetent and bad the NBA launched an investigation to make sure it wasn’t tanking and the conclusion is you’re just bad at coaching,” SB Nation’s James Hansen tweeted.
The word “incompetent” was used by other people, including Lakers Nation’s Matthew Peralta, who said “Kings’ incompetence so bad that the league investigated them just to say ‘Our b, you just dumb.'”
Kings incompetence so bad that the league investigated them just to say “Our b, you just dumb.” https://t.co/tn2IjnqnGD
— Matthew Peralta (@_MatthewPeralta) April 9, 2026
“Coaching so badly the league thought you were cheating, but then they remembered it’s the Kings,” another joked.
“So, an NBA head coach was unaware of the gameclock and foul situation at the end of the game. Got it. At least there was no tanking. Lol,” one person tweeted.
So, an NBA head coach was unaware of the gameclock and foul situation at the end of the game. Got it. At least there was no tanking. Lol https://t.co/lg8adgFgVK
— JDJackson (@TheWestWolfPod) April 9, 2026
“The Sacramento Kings’ tank is so pure. No selling of veterans. Just pure unadulterated ineptitude from the coach and poor roster construction,” one more tweet quipped.
The Kings did get the timeout they were looking for, but Curry also went ahead and sank one of the two free throws he took to tie the game at 101-101. The remaining 3:15 of the game following those free throws belonged to the Warriors, as they proceeded to win 110-105.
After the contest, Warriors star Draymond Green also called for more fines for tanking teams.
The Kings remain tied with the Utah Jazz for the worst record in the Western Conference at 21-59. Both teams also have just two games left on their schedule.
