NBA investigates Sacramento Kings for tanking. Sources explain what happened
The Sacramento Kings found themselves in the middle of the NBA’s tanking discussion following a peculiar decision in Tuesday’s 110-105 loss to the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center in San Francisco.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported the NBA was investigating Wednesday after Warriors forward Draymond Green implied the Kings had lost the game on purpose, but sources told The Sacramento Bee that was not the case.
Sacramento led by one and Golden State was in the bonus when Kings coach Doug Christie instructed Doug McDermott to foul Seth Curry with 3:15 to play in the fourth quarter. Curry, who is an 86.4% career free throw shooter, made one of two free throws to tie the game.
Sources said Christie called for a foul because he wanted to take a timeout before the three-minute mark and he thought the Kings had a foul to give before putting the Warriors in the bonus. Teams are limited to two timeouts in the final three minutes, so coaches will often use extra timeouts before they lose them automatically.
During the timeout, Christie drew up a play that resulted in a 3-pointer for McDermott, giving the Kings a 104-101 lead with 2:53 remaining. That didn’t stop Green from sounding off after the Warriors outscored the Kings 9-1 over the final 2:38 to escape with a hard-fought win.
During a broader discussion about tanking after the game, Green associated the Kings with the Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers, who were fined earlier this season for violating the NBA’s player participation policy.
“I saw a team tonight foul Seth Curry with three minutes to go for no reason,” Green said. “I get fined when I do wrong. Fine the hell out of people.”
Christie has repeatedly stated that he is playing to win, saying he doesn’t believe in tanking. Before losing their last two games, the Kings had won seven of 14 despite missing Drew Eubanks (thumb), De’Andre Hunter (eye), Zach LaVine (finger), Keegan Murray (ankle), Domantas Sabonis (knee) and Russell Westbrook (toe) due to injuries.
The Kings had the worst record in the NBA as recently as March 9, but they are now tied with Utah for the fourth-worst record, jeopardizing their chances in the NBA draft lottery.
