Longtime NBA coach Mike Woodson has agreed to a deal to join Doug Christie’s Sacramento Kings staff as associate head coach, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Woodson spent the past four years as the coach at Indiana, where he played under Bob Knight from 1976 to 1980 before being selected in the first round of the 1980 NBA draft by the New York Knicks.
After an NBA career that included 11 years as a player and 25 years as a head coach and assistant coach, he was hired by his alma mater in 2021 to replace Archie Miller.
Woodson stepped down from his position at the end of the 2024-25 season, as the Hoosiers missed the NCAA tournament for a second consecutive year. They reached the tournament in each of Woodson’s first two seasons, including a second-place finish in the Big Ten in 2022-23.
Woodson last coached in the NBA during the 2020-21 season, as an assistant on Tom Thibodeau’s Knicks staff.
Sacramento last month finalized a multiyear contract to make Christie the franchise’s next head coach. Christie had served as interim coach since late December, when the Kings fired Mike Brown.
The Kings won 20 of their first 31 games under Christie but finished 7-13 in the last 20 games of the season. Christie was expected to restructure his coaching staff in the offseason after inheriting Brown’s assistants in the aftermath of his firing.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: espn.com