Interim coach Doug Christie has Kings 'ready to play' - ESPN

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 in his first game since taking over for Mike Brown, who was fired Friday afternoon before the team's flight down the West Coast.

It has 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 past 17.

However, Kings guard Malik Monk — who credited Brown's «passion» in turning the franchise around the past two seasons — said 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.»

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