On Tuesday night, the Sacramento Kings used the ‘Hack-a-Curry’ play, which caught many by surprise. In fact, Golden State Warriors teammate Draymond Green stepped in on behalf of Stephen and Seth Curry and bluntly accused Doug Christie’s team of blatantly tanking. Other voices in the media joined in, but the head coach and the franchise denied resorting to any such means amid the investigation.
“I’m told the NBA is investigating this situation, this foul that took place with three over three minutes left in the game to Seth Curry. But King sources tell me that listen, Doug Christie just made a mistake, a strategical error.” ESPN’s senior insider, Shams Charania, stated on NBA Today. The foul occurred when the Kings’ head coach instructed forward Doug McDermott to foul Seth Curry; it was the first offence, and a few plays later, it was rookie center Dylan Cardwell who, despite being in foul trouble, made the Hack-a-Curry move.
Just as Charania reported, even ESPN’s senior writer Anthony Slater reported, “The strategy was just a misstep, sources told ESPN. As Christie wanted to use a timeout before he automatically lost it when the clock ticked below three minutes. Sources said Christie miscalculated that the Warriors were in the bonus and it would send Curry, an 86.4% career free throw shooter, to the line, despite more appealing options on the floor to foul if opting to hack a player.”
This transpired in the final frame, while in the second quarter, Stephen Curry was on the receiving end of some extra physical fouls. Standing up for his teammates, Draymond Green was vocal during the post-game media interaction. The 14-year veteran insinuated the Kings had done it for the purposes of losing the game.
“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.” Green’s assessment of the Kings’ tanking came because of Sacramento’s 21-59 record. This ties the Utah Jazz for the league’s fourth-worst record and keeps them in the hunt for a high pick in the upcoming draft.
Draymond Green’s accusation receives backing as Doug Christie’s previous stance comes to light
Earlier this season, the NBA fined the Utah Jazz $500,000 and the Indiana Pacers $100,000 for tanking. But since then, Adam Silver has put no other team on notice. So, Draymond Green spoke out and stated roughly 12 teams are actively trying to lose games. “If my math serves me correctly, that’s 10 that ain’t been fined,” he said. “We don’t keep that same energy when it comes to teams.”
Even veteran broadcaster Stephen A. Smith agreed with this statement.”[Draymond Green’s] 1,000% right. … When it comes to tanking it’s about the teams, it’s not about the players. The players are doing what they’re told to do.” But the Kings’ head coach denies instructing his players to concede a foul to Steph and Seth Curry because of tanking.
“Tanking is the last thing [I’d do],” Christie had said earlier this season. “I respect the game too much. These young men, in my opinion, when you do things like that, it hurts them.” While the team has lost a lot of games, they have been without nearly all their high-paid veterans. Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine, and De’Andre Hunter have had season-ending surgeries, and DeMar DeRozan and Russell Westbrook weren’t active for Tuesday’s game.
