Doug Christie, Malik Monk Respond to Kings' Tanking Allegations

This week, the Sacramento Kings were at the forefront of the NBA's tanking conversation. Due to an intentional foul late in their game against the Golden State Warriors that made it appear the Kings were trying to lose, the NBA launched an investigation into the situation.

As expected, the investigation resulted in the NBA deciding it was just a coaching error by Doug Christie. At Thursday's practice, Kings guard Malik Monk was completely unaware of the investigation, but laughed at the idea that people around the league believe the team is trying to lose games.

"I mean, if we're trying to lose, I feel like we'd be 0-82," Monk said with a laugh. "You know what I'm saying? So, I mean, we're not trying to lose every game. It just happens. We didn't have a good season this year. Some close games we didn't win, and it just trickled down from there. Yeah, we're not trying to lose from the players' standpoint."

Malik Monk talks about heading into the Kings home finale tomorrow night in Sacramento, not being aware of the NBA's investigation which cleared his team from tanking allegations and how the season's lack of success hasn't disrupted his desire to be in the organization. pic.twitter.com/4ZWsLGgu6Q
— Sean Cunningham (@SeanCunningham) April 9, 2026

Kings are not trying to lose

As Monk says, the Kings are not trying to lose. Things have just not gone their way this season. Heading into a rematch with the Warriors on Friday night, the Kings are just 21-59 on the season. Sure, when they lost 16 games in a row, the tanking conversation makes sense. However, they have now won seven of their last 16, improving from the worst record in the NBA to the fourth-worst.

Even if the front office is content with a few more losses than wins at this point in the season, as they aim for a high pick in this year's loaded draft, the players are not on the same page. Christie has his coaching staff and players striving for wins every game, and that has not changed, regardless of where they are in the standings.

Doug Christie is anti-tank

As he has voiced throughout the season, Christie reassured on Thursday that he would never try to lose.

"I would never put our organization, I would never put Scott (Perry) and B.J. (Armstrong) in any type of position like that. I have too much respect for the game. I have too much respect for our players. I have too much respect for this city. Just wouldn't do it, period. We're out there to win, and our guys are gonna play hard until the very end, period," Christie said.

Kings head coach Doug Christie talks about being investigated and cleared by the NBA for his decision to foul Seth Curry in the loss to the Warriors two nights ago, explains his strategy, talks about celebrating DeMar DeRozan in Friday's home finale & what he wants fans to know. pic.twitter.com/cELezwA0BV
— Sean Cunningham (@SeanCunningham) April 9, 2026

This is no surprise coming from Christie, especially as a former Kings player. He would never intentionally lose a game, making the NBA's entire investigation into the matter obsolete.

Christie and his players might not be as successful as they would have hoped this season, but they are certainly on the same page about trying to win every game. For a coach who is constantly preaching about his team's competitive level, he is not going to intentionally give the Warriors a win under any circumstances.