The Sacramento Kings narrowly lost to the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, falling 110-105, but the end of the game had much further complications. After the game, Warriors star Draymond Green complained that he thought the Kings were tanking when they intentionally fouled Seth Curry while up by one point with just over three minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Green’s claim was followed by the NBA launching an investigation into the incident, as they continue to attempt to crack down on tanking across the league. On Thursday, the NBA made an announcement about the conclusion of the investigation.

“The NBA has completed an investigation of the Sacramento Kings and Head Coach Doug Christie’s decision to foul intentionally late in the team’s game against the Golden State Warriors on April 7. The league’s investigation determined that Christie mistakenly believed that the Warriors were not in the penalty and therefore instructed his team to foul in an attempt to stop the clock and utilize one of the team’s remaining timeouts. The investigation found that Christie made no intentional effort to give the Warriors a shooting foul, or to cause the Kings to lose the game.”

NBA completes investigation into the Sacramento Kings. NBA says Doug Christie’s actions were not intentional in trying to lose the game. Big fat nothing. pic.twitter.com/aB5VBXwWk2

— Sean Cunningham (@SeanCunningham) April 9, 2026Christie’s error gets blown out of proportion

The NBA has determined that Doug Christie’s instruction to Doug McDermott to foul Curry was simply a coaching error. Christie believed the Kings had a foul to give, and wanted to stop the clock before the three-minute mark so he could use his use-it-or-lose-it timeout. However, the Kings did not have a foul to give, so this intentional foul sent Curry to the free-throw line.

Of course, it looked fishy when it happened, but when giving it more thought, it became obvious it was just a coaching error. Christie, of all NBA coaches, is not the type to tank, and he has made that very clear this season.

Doug Christie doubled down on his stance about tanking. He says as long as he is here in Sacramento, the Kings will never tank. Every time they step on the floor, they will try to win.

He says tanking hurts the young guys on your team currently, and also pointed out that Dallas…

— Matt George (@MattGeorgeSAC) March 16, 2026

Even after this intentional foul, Curry tied the game with a free throw, but the Kings came down and scored to regain the lead. If they were trying to lose, why would they show so much effort down the stretch? This entire situation caused far more commotion across the league than it should have.

Not to mention, this stemmed from Green’s rant about tanking. For anyone who is keeping track, the Kings have more wins since the All-Star break than the Warriors. Sure, they have had a disastrous season, but a 7-9 record in their last 16 games certainly does not look like a team trying to lose.

Fortunately, the NBA wrapped up this investigation quickly, not allowing it to escalate any further.

The Kings have just two games left on their regular season schedule, and they certainly did not want to go into the offseason with tanking allegations clouding over them. While this situation certainly got out of hand and did not need an investigation in the first place, we are certainly fortunate it is over.