There have been quite a few people to move from broadcasting jobs to roles with teams over the years, and the latest is Doug Christie. Christie (who played in the NBA from 1993-2007) joined the Kings’ NBC Sports California TV broadcast in April 2018 after long-time color commentator Jerry Reynolds exited a regular role after 33 years, and he worked with several play-by-play voices there, including Grant Napear, Gary Gerould, and Mark Jones (since the start of this last season). He also has co-hosted a sports radio show in the market on CBS Sports Radio affiliate KHTK 1140. But Christie announced Monday he’s leaving his broadcast roles to take up an assistant coaching position with the team:
The Sacramento Kings announced today that Doug Christie has been hired as an assistant coach. Per team policy, terms of the deal are not disclosed.
“It’s been a dream of mine to coach for the Sacramento Kings,” said Christie. “I feel like I have some unfinished business. I’d like to thank my family at NBC Sports California as well as KHTK for an amazing ride. I look forward to working with Coach Walton to deliver a winning team to the great fans of Sacramento.”
“Doug has been a pillar within the Sacramento Kings organization for decades,” said [head coach Luke] Walton. “I’m excited to add his years of basketball knowledge and energy to our coaching staff and our great group of players.”
Christie has faced a tough challenge on the broadcasting side in working with so many different play-by-play partners in a short span of time, but by many reviews, he’s done a pretty good job there. He’s certainly come to our attention for some fun calls, such as “Zero Fox are given!” about a De’Aaron Fox block. We’ll see how he does as an assistant coach.
