Thus began a relationship between these men that has lasted for three years.
D. Christie immediately began training Dom to the place where his father flourished most: the corner of the penalty area, known in Americans as the "elbow." It was from there, the Kings coach believed, that D. Sabonis could best create play and help his teammates, and when the defense was too focused on other players, he could also attack himself.
The Kings coach could draw inspiration not only from A. Sabonis, but also from his longtime teammates, V. Divac and C. Webber, who were excellent passers. These powerful, tall players also often created the game from the aforementioned "elbow" position.
Christie also felt responsible for other aspects of Sabonis' game, especially his offense. After the 2022-2023 season ended, the men worked together for a large part of the summer. The main areas of individual work were D. Sabonis' right-handed play and his shooting from longer distances. Christie wanted the Lithuanian to become more aggressive on offense. He advised him to watch as much of Nikola Jokic's game footage as possible. The Serb was also too passive in his early career attacking the basket and constantly looking for teammates, but after breaking free and starting to use his advantages, he has consistently scored at least 26 points per game over the past five seasons.
In order to get to know his student even better and understand how he could help him, D. Christie packed his bags and flew across the Atlantic. In the summer of 2023, he spent several weeks in Palanga, spending time not only with Domantas, but also with the entire Sabonis family.
During the day, D. Christie worked with the Kings leader, and in his free time or in the evenings, he was friends with Arvydas Sabonis, Ingrida Saboniene, and others. He didn't miss the opportunity to explore the surroundings - the NBA legend got on his bike and hit the road. Men still remember this story with laughter. "It seems to me that he rode his bike all the way from Palanga to Klaipėda (posthumously), and even got lost once," D. Sabonis said with a laugh while talking to 15min in Chicago.
"I rode my bike everywhere. Maybe even too far, because I started to get nervous and got lost," the hero of the story himself, D. Christie, shared his memories with 15min , laughing. An American visiting our country for the first time was surprised. Having imagined Lithuania as a country with a harsh climate, in the middle of summer he saw a completely different picture. "I had a great time in Lithuania. They (the Sabonis - postscript) own a hotel in the beach area. When I thought about Lithuania before, snow, cold, etc. immediately came to mind. But it was completely different - the sun was constantly shining," said D. Christie, who played in the NBA for 15 years and 827 games, with a smile.
He also used only the best words to describe the time he spent with the Sabonis family. "We sat and had dinner with Arvydas and Dom's mother, talked, smoked cigars and drank an immeasurable amount of wine - we had a great time," the American laughed. "I heard some very interesting stories." "Doug gets along very well with my family - with his dad, with his brothers, with his mom, with everyone," Domantas Sabonis added. "He really liked Palanga, too."
