Coach Doug Christie rallies his struggling Kings, combating a deep losing streak by emphasizing fight and a game-by-game mentality, not defeat.
The Sacramento Kings dropped their 11th consecutive game on Friday night against the Los Angeles Clippers 114-111, marking the first time the franchise has done so since March-April of their 1997-98 campaign.
Having been defeated in a nail-biter for a second straight game following their 129-125 loss at the hands of the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night, it's understandable to believe a few players might feel dejected.
That's not the case for this Kings roster made up of both interesting prospects and wise veteran figures, especially under head coach Doug Christie.
Following the Kings' loss to the Clippers, Christie spoke to the media about what it takes to keep the locker room from believing that a losing culture is on the rise, and how to avoid developing a similar mentality. He also made sure to announce that the Kings intend to compete for wins, each and every night.
"When you say 11 (straight losses), I wouldn't know unless you said it because I go game-by-game," Christie shared, according to footage from Kings insider James Ham.
"They've been in these games... we have not pulled through, but you only become a loser when you take that mentality, and we ain't doing that."
"We come out here to fight, and their fight was top-shelf tonight."
Despite the Kings' ongoing slide, Christie's words sent a direct and strong message to the Kings' faithful on Friday night.
Sacramento owns the worst record in the NBA (12-41), but the team's fight has been on full display since the beginning of this historic skid. The Kings' 3.7-point average margin of defeat over their past three losses is just one indicator that the group is, at the very least, competing with the intention of coming away with victories.
One could argue that Christie's questionable rotations and tendency to pull red-hot scoring threats from contests inexplicably is a symptom of the not-so quiet introduction of tanking culture, but the Kings' young players have not seemed to catch wind of the front office's intentions.
Sacramento's rookie talents Nique Clifford, Dylan Cardwell and Maxime Raynaud have pulled out all the stops to keep their most recent games competitive, along with second-year guard Devin Carter.
If anything, this streak has given the team the best of both worlds. Winning is obviously the goal, but the fact that the Kings' trio of first-year talents have managed to put on stellar performances in games that come down to the final minutes is an accomplishment in itself.
It's clear that the Kings' young guns have not adopted a losing mentality, and it'll be fun to see if their mindset might unintentionally disrupt the franchise's tanking process.
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