This is an understandable mistake, but it’s also pretty hilarious. New Dallas Mavericks swingman Max Christie shares the same last name as former NBA player and Sacramento Kings interim head coach Doug Christie, which is why it’d be easy to think that they’re related. However, they’re not.
Among those who thought they were related was Christie’s new teammate, Klay Thompson, which led to an amusing interaction.
Thompson thought Max Christie was Doug Christie’s son
After the Mavericks lost to the Kings, Thompson admitted during his postgame press conference that he thought Max was Doug’s son “for years” until the former clarified for Thompson that they weren’t.
Thompson also explained that he thought they were related because of how similar they are as basketball players, saying, “Same measurables, you know? 6’6″ off-guard?” before praising Christie as a player.
Klay Thompson on Max Christie: "I thought that was Doug Christie's son for like years. I clarified that with him and they're not related." pic.twitter.com/ws7ZI5ETPj
— HoopsHype (@hoopshype) February 11, 2025
Doug played in the NBA from 1993 to 2007. He played one season for the Dallas Mavericks in 2005, though that was when he was at the end of his prime as a player. In his heyday, Christie was well-regarded as one of the best perimeter defenders of his time, making four NBA All-Defense teams. He helped the Kings reach heights in the 2000s that they hadn’t seen before or since.
It can be easy to make such an assumption since Christie isn’t as common as a last name as Thompson. Therefore, it’s easier to assume that Klay isn’t related to someone like Tristan Thompson or Amen Thompson than it is to assume that Max and Doug aren’t.
That’s what makes it all the more amazing when it turns out people who share the same uncommon last name are not related. Look at Bojan Bogdanovic and Bogdan Bogdanovic. They’re not related at all. In fact, they’re not even from the same country, yet they almost have very similar names.
For that same reason, it becomes all the more bewildering when some players who don’t look alike or have different last names are related because of how unbelievable it all sounds. Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady are distant cousins who played together for the Toronto Raptors. They played with Christie, but no one would have guessed that had it never been revealed to the public that they were.
Doug Christie has a son named Douglas Christie Jr., but he’s not in the NBA.
