NBA completes Sacramento Kings tanking investigation. Are they guilty?
An NBA investigation has determined the Sacramento Kings were not trying to lose — as alleged by Draymond Green — when they fouled Seth Curry in the final minutes of Tuesday’s game against the Golden State Warriors.
The Kings found themselves in the crosshairs of the NBA’s tanking crackdown after coach Doug Christie made a peculiar decision late in his team’s 110-105 loss to the Warriors at Chase Center in San Francisco. The NBA determined it was a tactical error and not tanking, saying Christie “made no intentional effort to give the Warriors a shooting foul, or to cause the Kings to lose the game.”
The controversy unfolded after Christie called for an intentional foul late in Tuesday’s game against Golden State. The Kings led by one and the Warriors were in the bonus when Christie instructed Doug McDermott to foul 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 told The Sacramento Bee that Christie called for a foul because he wanted to stop the clock 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 designed a play that resulted in a 3-pointer for McDermott, giving the Kings a 104-101 lead with 2:53 remaining. The Warriors outscored the Kings 9-1 over the final 2:38 to secure the win.
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 the Utah Jazz for the fourth-worst record.
During a broader discussion about tanking after Tuesday’s game, Green associated the Kings with the 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.”
League officials determined that would not be necessary in this case.
“The NBA has completed an investigation of the Sacramento Kings and Head Coach Doug Christie’s decision to foul intentionally late in the team’s game against the Golden State Warrior on April 7,” the NBA said in a statement issued Thursday. “The league’s investigation determined that Christie mistakenly believed that the Warriors were not in the penalty and therefore instructed his team to foul in an attempt to stop the clock and utilize one of the team’s remaining timeouts. The investigation found that Christie made no intentional effort to give the Warriors a shooting foul, or to cause the Kings to lose the game.”
