Coach Doug Christie’s decision on Tuesday to have his Sacramento Kings intentionally foul Golden State Warriors guard Seth Curry while the Kings were ahead caused a social media storm. With Sacramento holding a 101-100 lead with 3:15 left in the fourth quarter, the Kings fouled Curry, who tied the game by going 1-for-2 from the free-throw line.
The viral play prompted an investigation from the NBA, which cleared the Kings of tanking allegations on Thursday. According to the result of the probe, Christie did not deliberately allow the Warriors to win.
Fans reacted to the result of the investigation. One fan wrote:
“Kings are so stupid the NBA feels bad fining them again. Lol.”
Another fan added:
“NBA to Doug Christie: Stop snorting and pay attention.”
One more fan continued:
“Getting a not guilty by reason of being bad at your job verdict from the league office is almost more embarrassing for Kings.”
Another fan commented:
“What a joke the NBA has become.”
One fan tweeted:
“Classic NBA: It was just a misunderstanding, your honor.”
NBA insider Anthony Slater reported after the Kings’ loss to the Warriors that Doug Christie had no idea they were in penalty. Slater added that the foul was committed because Christie wanted to use a timeout that he would have lost when the time went under three minutes.
Christie was standing on the sidelines when he asked Doug McDermott to foul Curry, an 86.4% career shooter from the free-throw line. The analysts calling the game were perplexed, particularly as the Kings could have fouled Draymond Green, a 70.9% career shooter from the 4.5-meter line.
Doug Christie instructed the Kings to foul Seth Curry again with 1:39 left despite the Kings trailing by just 107-104. Normally, teams would try to play defense as there was more than enough time to overhaul the lead. Instead, Curry nailed the two shots to push the Warriors’ advantage.
Sacramento eventually lost 110-105, dropping its record to 21-59 and tying the Utah Jazz for the worst record in the Western Conference.
Draymond Green Accused Doug Christie and Kings of Tanking, Urged NBA To Penalize Teams for Deliberately Losing Games
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green did not hold back in the postgame conference after his team’s win over the Sacramento Kings. Green responded when asked about teams allegedly intentionally losing games for draft positioning:
“I saw a team tonight foul Seth Curry with three minutes to go in the game for no reason. In the penalty!”
When asked for suggestions on how the NBA could prevent tanking, Green said:
“I get fined when I do no wrong. Just fine the hell out of people.”
Doug Christie pushed back in his postgame conference. He said that “tanking is the last thing” he would do. The former NBA player added that he respects the game “too much” to force his players to deliberately lose a game.
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