LAS VEGAS, NV — As Cam Christie began to slide down in the 30's range of the 2024 NBA Draft, hope began to build within the LA Clippers organization. There was some buzz around Christie, who is the brother of Los Angeles Lakers guard Max Christie, going somewhere in the later half of the first round of the Draft, but the two-night event was a strange one.
When news of the Sacramento Kings' intent to draft Jamal Shead with the 45th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft came down the NBA Twitter pipeline, screams of elation and excitement could be heard from within the Clippers' draft room. Armed with the 46th pick, the Clippers had been eyeing the sharpshooting Christie, an 18-year old one-and-done product from the University of Minnesota. At the same time, Christie had been eyeing them as a landing spot since the early portions of the second round.
Summer of Christie
With the selection, the Clippers acquired one of the best shooters in the Draft and reunited the Christie brothers in Los Angeles, albeit on different teams. This summer, not only did Cam get drafted, but Max signed a four-year, $32 million deal to remain with the Lakers.
“It was a great summer just for our whole family in general,” Cam Christie told ClutchPoints in an exclusive interview. “Obviously, with me getting drafted, and then with Max signing a new contract as well. It was a great summer, obviously super cool for us to be in the same city and the way it worked out. So I mean, yeah, it's super cool to see all the hard work pay off.”
Max Christie is just as excited to be able to play in the same city with his younger brother.
“It was awesome,” Max Christie added in an exclusive interview with ClutchPoints. “I mean two brothers in the same city is obviously a dream come true and it doesn't matter what team he really went to. You're always excited. But the fact that I'm a Laker and he's a Clipper, we're both in the same city is gonna make our jobs a lot easier for each other so it's nice.”
Max, who was selected with the 35th pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, has played two years with the Lakers. He's provided shooting and floor spacing, a skillset he believes his younger brother will be able to showcase with the Clippers.
“He's super skilled super with a very good size for his position,” Max Christie continued. “He can play off the bounce, he can catch-and-shoot, and as he gets more comfortable, he's able to knock those shots down more often. Especially his role, probably, on the Clippers is more of a spot-up shooter, right? So I think he can fill that role pretty well until he gets comfortable and keeps working on his game. He's very versatile which works out for him.”
Entering the Draft, there were folks making the case that Cam was a better and more ready fit for the NBA than his brother, Max, was at the time.
Max Christie came out of college after one year at Michigan State University. In 35 appearances, the elder Christie averaged 9.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.5 assists on 38.2 percent shooting from the field and 31.7 percent from three.
Cam Christie was even better in his lone college season at Minnesota, averaging 11.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.2 assists on 40.3 percent shooting from the field and 42 percent from three.
“He looks great,” Max Christie explained. “Being around him, it seems like he's in a good spot too and so it's cool watching him get his footing. It's the [first few] games here, so he's just trying to get his feet underneath him and learn how to play the game the right way at this level. I mean he's doing it all at a young age. Luckily for him, I've been able to try to carve out a path for him, show him how it's done a little bit so he's got a little bit of a leg up on some other guys just because I've been in the NBA and he's been around me for a while. So it's exciting for me.”
“It's definitely super helpful to have,” Cam Christie agreed. “I think obviously him being in the NBA has been really helpful to kind of help me learn more about how to get there, what the work ethic has to look like, and certain tips and tricks to kind of help me get to this point. I think it's a super cool honor to be able to have kind of like an NBA family and he's been super helpful throughout the whole process.”
Cam Christie At Summer League
In five appearances at Summer League, Cam Christie averaged 11.4 points, 2.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.0 steal, and 3.0 three-pointers per game on 37.3 percent shooting from the field and 40.5 percent from three.
Christie's play gradually improved over the three week training camp and summer tournament to the point where he put up his best performance in the semifinals, finishing with 22 points on 7-of-13 shooting and 6-of-11 from three in a little over 27 minutes against the Memphis Grizzlies.
“I think so far it's transitioned pretty well,” Cam Christie said before the semifinal game. “I think, obviously, Summer League is kind of something that you play to see what you need to work on. Kind of adjust to the new game and the new competition and stuff like that. So I think the goal for me is kind of just to get better every game, to gain more confidence every game, to learn more every game. I think it's been super dope for us to go 4-0 and have a chance to win the championship. I think that's been super cool. So I'd say overall, it's been a really fun time and a really successful Summer League.”
Christie, who started all five games for the Clippers, scored the first nine points of the semifinal game when Kobe Brown started in foul trouble and Jordan Miller was seeing extra attention as a result of Brown being off the floor.
“Cam had his best game when we needed him too,” Clippers Summer League coach Dahntay Jones said of Christie. “He made shots. Took big shots, made big shots when we were in foul trouble a little bit. Cam is just a really good kid that loves basketball. He’s a good basketball mind and a shooter by nature, so if he can make shots in our league, he can play for a long time.”
“They've been saying that they want me to remain confident,” Cam Christie added. “They love the fact that I'm shooting all the open shots, whether I've made them or missed them. They love the fact that I'm super confident in myself. And also just to kind of get used to the new concepts forcing people baseline and we've been trying to emphasize rebounding and stuff like that. So I think they've been super supportive and super helpful for me just in terms of trying to pinpoint different things that I can work out throughout this whole Summer League.”
Following one of the games, Dahntay Jones noted that Christie has had a serious, no-nonsense demeanor when it comes to basketball. It caught him and a few others off guard to the point that Jones joked with Christie, who just turned 19 years of age today, if he brought in his signed permission slip to attend and play in the NBA Summer League games.
“Ahh, I did not have to sign a permission slip. Dahntay's a funny guy.”
That mentality, however, is just a part of who Cam Christie is, his brother said.
“It's just who he is,” Max Christie explained. “He's very locked in all the time. He's got a good poker face on the floor, so he's just always locked in. He doesn't really let his emotions get the best of him and that's something that we've both been working on since we were younger. So that's just part of his DNA.”
Along with both of their parents, Max attended every one of Cam's Summer League games in Las Vegas, often cheering him on, celebrating his big moments, and offering advice throughout the week.
“It's super cool,” Cam said. “I came to all of his games when he was here and I've supported him and stuff like that. So for him to kind of reciprocate that, it's been super dope, especially to see him sitting courtside and doing all those celebrations and stuff like that. It's super nice to have a supportive brother like that, especially somebody that's been through it. I just can't thank him enough.”
Christie vs. Christie (Clippers vs. Lakers)
In a few short months, the Clippers and Lakers will play their first game against each other since the former moved into the all new Intuit Dome. It's unclear where Christie will be in the Clippers' rotation as the season goes on, but he's not expected to be in it to start the year off.
Regardless of where he is, however, both brothers are looking forward to the eventual opportunity of sharing the floor together and creating a lifetime of memories for their family.
“I think it's going to be super fun, obviously,” Cam Christie smiled. “When we both take the court together for the first time, I think it's going to be a real experience for me, for him, our parents, really everybody involved with our whole process. I think it's going to be super cool. So I'm super excited to see how that shakes out.”
“I think I mean the [Lakers-Clippers] rivalry is always there,” Max Christie added. “But I think, for the most part, it's just gonna be cool competing against him in those kind of games. It's gonna be cool watching him from afar even going to some games as well It's really cool seeing him be here.”
Their NBA head-to-head record will begin at 0-0; their record playing against one another is unknown due to each player's conflicting answers.
“I won a lot of the games against him,” Max Christie smirked. “Yeah, when he was younger, I was able to kind of bully him a little bit, but he's coming to his own now. So that's cool. He's gonna say that he won [more of the head-to-head games].”
“I'm going to go with me,” Cam Christie responded with a laugh. “He probably said he won a lot of them, but I'm always going to say me.”
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