“I’m really appreciative, appreciative of Doug Christie.”
Following Sunday’s loss to the visiting Los Angeles Clippers, Sacramento Kings rookie Dylan Cardwell was asked about his relationship with head coach Doug Christie beyond what’s seen on gamedays.
“He’s been a very honest man, a very honest coach, since I touched down in Sacramento,” Cardwell continued. “I’ll never forget my very first kind of practice with him and the team were in LA, and he pulled me to the side and… He said, ‘I want you to go out there and just beat up on people and foul people. And like, where you’re trying to come from, he was saying you have to find a way to separate yourself.”
It’s safe to say that the undrafted big man out of Auburn has done that in his rookie campaign. In his debut season, Cardwell has appeared in an average of 20.4 minutes over 41 games, tallying 5.3 points and 7.5 rebounds while shooting 58.6 percent from the field. That places Dylan Cardwell 29th among rookies in minutes per game.
While those counting stats don’t jump off the page, they’re actually higher marks than anything he reached throughout five seasons in college. Rim protection has been far and away his most valuable skill set, along with some ability to switch onto smaller players, earning the best defensive rating on the roster.
Coach Christie has been emphasizing the importance of defense since he took over early last season. So, it’s unsurprising that the two seem to have a strong relationship and an appreciation for each other.
“[Christie’s] been very honest about if I do these things, and I make sure that I’m on time, I make sure that I’m being professional, that when the opportunity presents itself, he gives me a lot of grace,” Cardwell said. “And that’s been one of the bigger reasons I’ve been successful this year. I’ve had a significant first rookie season because Doug Christie has given me a lot of grace throughout the year to go out there and fail and mess up on rotations and, you know, miss layups or miss free throws or miss assignments, and he allows me to play through that, because the main thing he wants me to do is play hard.”
“And, man, I can’t thank him enough for, like I said, just the amount of grace that he’s given me as a coach. I’ve never had that much grace given to me by a single coach in my entire life, and just a different level of freedom that I don’t have to go out there and tiptoe around and be afraid to fail or be afraid to mess up. He just wants me to go out there and have fun and play with joy. And I really appreciate it, man. I really do appreciate him.”
His coach has spoken highly of the rookie from early in the season. Nothing shows that more than the fact that Christie started Cardwell in their sixth game of the season, with him having roughly 27 minutes of NBA experience under his belt.
More than 800 minutes and nearly a full season later, the growth in Cardwell’s game has been noticeable. While still a below-average free-throw shooter, it’s much improved from the start of the season. Trust me, they didn’t look pretty in practice, but he was usually there getting work in with assistant general manager BJ Armstrong or others on Christie’s staff.
“He’s a special human being, and that goes past basketball,” Christie said of the rookie. “So just, you know, I always talked about an honor, but when you got a kid like that, I mean, he’s so highly motivated, he’s so easy to coach. He’s all about his teammates and trying to win, and how can he win? And how can I get better? And do you have any film? And just on and on, like, those are the things that just make me smile about Dylan. So not only is that, but you’re just happy to see him when he’s having success. For sure.”
With there likely to be time before the next playoff contender comes out of Sacramento, Cardwell will have the chance to continue growing as a player. It’ll be interesting to see whether that will still be under Christie’s guidance.
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When is the next Sacramento Kings game?
The Sacramento Kings will travel down I-80 to visit Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night.
Sacramento and Golden State have split two regular-season matchups thus far, with the Warriors handing the Kings a 137-103 loss at Chase Center on January 9th behind 27 points and 10 assists from Curry.
Be sure to catch all of the Sacramento Kings vs. Golden State Warriors action right here on Sactown Sports 1140 AM, with pregame coverage beginning at 5:30 PM PT on Game Night before a 7:00 pm PT tip-off from downtown San Francisco.
Upcoming Sacramento Kings schedule for the 2025-26 season
Tuesday, April 7th @ Golden State Warriors – 7:00 PM PT
Friday, April 10th vs. Golden State Warriors – 7:00 PM PT
Sunday, April 12th @ Portland Trail Blazers – 5:30 PM PT (End of season)
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