LOS ANGELES -- Doug Christie rapped along to the lyrics of Ice Cube's "It Was a Good Day" on Saturday morning as the song echoed through the gym at USC's Galen Center at the conclusion of his first shootaround as interim coach of the Sacramento Kings.
More than 30 years after Christie was a rookie with the Los Angeles Lakers, he found himself back in L.A., preparing to face the Lakers -- his first game since taking over for Mike Brown who was fired Friday afternoon before the team's flight down the West Coast.
It's been anything but a good season for the Kings thus far, No. 13 in the Western Conference with a 13-18 record -- having lost five games in a row and 12 of their last 17.
However, Kings guard Malik Monk -- who credited Brown's "passion" in turning the Kings franchise around the last two seasons -- said that the coaching change resulted in an energy shift at the shootaround session.
"All the vibes were high," Monk said. "Everybody is happy. Everybody is ready to play tonight."
Included in the group ready to play was All-Star big man Domantas Sabonis. He missed Sacramento's last game Thursday with an illness, when the Kings failed to protect a 19-point second-half lead in a 114-113 loss to the Detroit Pistons.
Sabonis did not join the team on its flight to L.A., as he was questionable to play because of the illness, but arranged his own travel Saturday morning to be a part of the first steps with Christie.
"I got here and went right onto the court," Sabonis said. "We're all focused on winning the game. But we obviously know we haven't been performing at our best. And we have to do a better job. Me as one of the leaders of the team, I got to make sure that that happens. We got to win all the games that we can."
Following the Pistons game, Brown called out another one of Sacramento's leaders in De'Aaron Fox for him fouling Jaden Ivey on a 3-pointer in the waning seconds with the Kings up by 3. Ivey hit the 3 and the ensuing free throw, costing the Kings the game.
Before Brown was dismissed, he led the Kings practice Friday and was seen by reporters having a conversation with Fox on the court.
"We were talking about in-game stuff, what we would do towards the end of games," Fox said after shootaround. "Definitely didn't know that that little conversation -- that's really normal -- would have been the last one with him as a head coach."
Brown was informed of the decision by Kings general manager Monte McNair, who called him when the 2023 NBA Coach of the Year had already left the practice facility to get ready for the flight to L.A.
Sabonis, who said he was sleeping when the decision was made, called it "shocking." Monk said he found out on X, formerly known as Twitter, and was also shocked, but added: "It's the NBA. Anything can happen. So, next man up, I guess."
Fox said he was "surprised" but was given a head's up of what was to come. "I found out a minute before everybody else did," he said.
After Brown signed an extension in the offseason through 2026-27 -- adding more than $20 million in guaranteed money to what he was already owed -- Fox credited the continuity of the Kings organization.
A reporter asked Fox on Saturday if he felt any "pressure or guilt" for the way things unraveled so quickly with Brown.
"Any pressure or guilt? I mean, obviously we all know the job that we have," Fox said. "You can be traded at any point. Released. Cut. Fired. Whatever it may be. I mean, I wouldn't use the word 'guilt.' But that's the nature of the job that we have.
"But I mean, obviously him signing his extension this summer, we felt like we would be together a whole lot longer but that's the decision that they made. But at the end of the day too, he's still being paid. A great part of being an NBA player, being an NBA coach is those things can happen but these contracts are guaranteed."
Christie addressed the team before its flight to L.A. and again at the Galen Center. His message?
"To come out and stick together, fight and just be us, be who we are and turn this thing around," Sabonis shared.
And Monk had a message of his own for Kings fans who saw their team break a 17-year postseason drought in 2023, only to have their coach fired two seasons later.
"Sorry, fans," Monk said. "We're going to turn it around. That's it. Short and sweet."
