Kings Coach Doug Christie Slams Team for Unacceptable Preseason Opener

The Sacramento Kings did not live up to Doug Christie's standards against the Toronto Raptors.

Mar 27, 2025; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings interim head coach Doug Christie talks to guard Zach LaVine (8) during the fourth quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images | Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

The Sacramento Kings opened up their 2025 preseason at home against the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night, giving their home crowd a glimpse of what is to come for their 2025-26 campaign.

However, what fans saw on Wednesday night was far from ideal.

The Kings suffered a 130-122 loss to the Toronto Raptors, only making it seem close with a 44-point fourth-quarter effort from their reserves. Veteran stars Domantas Sabonis and Zach LaVine combined for 35 points on 12-17 shooting from the field in limited minutes, while rookies Dylan Cardwell and Nique Clifford turned heads off the bench.

Of course, it is never a good idea to overreact about the first game of the preseason, so everyone should take Wednesday's performance with a grain of salt. However, Kings head coach Doug Christie is using the preseason loss to teach his team a lesson.

Christie's postgame message

After the game, Christie went after his players for losing both the "game" and the "fight" on Wednesday night against the Raptors, and called their effort "unacceptable."

"There's two games every night. There's the game, and there's the fight. So we've got 164 games. Every night we gonna win one of them. If we win them both, we're doing something. Tonight we lost them both. And I said, 'Let that be the last time. We're always gonna win the fight.' ...They came back and threw some punches, but it is a group effort," Christie said. "Unfortunately, we lost both games tonight. Unacceptable. And that will hopefully be the last time that happens."

Doug Christie says a lot of tonight's Sacramento Kings preseason debut was "unacceptable". pic.twitter.com/Qieaf2T5NA

— Matt George (@MattGeorgeSAC) October 9, 2025

Christie's mindset as the Kings' new full-time head coach is simple. The Kings are supposed to always out-work and out-hustle their opponent. Sure, the Kings have some talent around guys like Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine, and DeMar DeRozan, but most nights, the other team will likely be better than them. The only way to make some noise in the NBA as a team like the Kings is to take the Indiana Pacers route, which is to want it more.

Of course, again, this is just a preseason game and the first time these guys have played an NBA game in months, but Christie did not like what he saw from his players and is holding everyone accountable, including the coaching staff.

The Kings move on to face the Portland Trail Blazers on the road on Friday. Christie is certainly expecting a better effort from his guys in that outing, and it would be a major concern if things do not change.