Christies serving up a dose of reality TV

BELLEVUE — It's an unseasonably warm late-summer afternoon outside Doug and Jackie Christie's sprawling 12,000-square-foot estate, which is appropriately called Infinite Love. He leaves the front door open and disappears into the kitchen to finish the remains of what appears to be a tuna sandwich before his wife Jackie emerges.

Wearing designer blue jeans, a form-fitting black button-down shirt and just a touch of makeup, she abruptly ends a conversation on her cellphone. At 5 feet 8, the 37-year-old fashion maven still carries herself like a runway model even though she hasn't worked professionally in nearly a decade.

These days, she designs everything from handbags to women's apparel and describes her style as urban chic, while Doug, who covered his slender 6-6 muscular frame in a pair of cutoff khakis and a burgundy T-shirt with a picture of Bob Marley across the front, is far more casual.

Aside from running a boutique-style fashion design and clothing company, raising three children and attempting to restart Doug's injury-plagued NBA career, the couple is starring in a reality TV series that's scheduled to debut Thursday on BET J.

"We have a lot of stuff going on," Jackie says.

They plop down on an oversized green suede sofa. Jackie first, then Doug takes a seat by her side. If you think that's an accident, then you don't know the Christies. Every so often, one of them changes positions, which causes the other one to shift and re-adjust their seating, but always keeping a physical connection.

Instinctively, he reaches out with his right hand and finds hers. Their fingers interlock and over the next hour or so, it's nearly impossible to tell where one begins and the other one ends as they finish each other's sentences and share their ideas on love, marriage and their turbulent times during his 14-year NBA career.

"Freakin' media."

That's Jackie talking, and you get the feeling that if she were off the record, she'd use stronger language. In person, she's funny, approachable and candid enough to say that she dislikes many reporters.

"Just the ones who don't tell the truth," she clarifies.

Her disdain for the press began shortly after she brazenly darted onto the public scene in 2002 during an off-the-court fight between her husband, who starred as a defensive specialist for 4 ½ years with the Sacramento Kings, and Lakers forward Rick Fox.

When Jackie jumped in the middle of that well-publicized fracas wielding a handbag and a whole lot of attitude that came crashing down on Fox's head, she lost her anonymity.

Suddenly, the Christies' relationship became fodder for sports talk-show hosts and late-night comedians. That's when folks began to notice Jackie at nearly every game — home and away — and questioned why she was so attentive to her husband, while many NBA wives took the position of don't ask, don't tell when it came to their spouse's off-the-court activities.

Partially because of her street-sass and unapologetic behavior, Jackie has been characterized as eccentric and overbearing, while Doug is ridiculed because he acknowledges his wife as many as 60 times during games with a hand sign.

"Nothing really bothers me, because they've said so much about us," he says. "There was a time when I led with my ego and a lot of that stuff would have bothered me. Being called whipped or soft and henpecked and all of that stuff, it only bothers me when it bothers my wife, when it hurts her feelings. Other than that, that stuff doesn't bother me because, ultimately, I'm not afraid for my wife to be a strong black woman. I'm not afraid for her to have her own voice.

"I think we've all grown up in a society that has not allowed that from women, so it's different. My boys ask me, 'Is your wife running things?' I'm like, 'No, my wife has her own voice and she's not shy.' I'm like, 'Go ahead, baby, speak up. Be your own woman. I'm going to be right here behind you because I love you. And even if you're wrong, you're right with me.' "

Soon after the dustup with Fox, Stephanie Shepard, a former Sacramento Kings manager of media relations, filed a suit against the couple and the Kings organization claiming sexual harassment, unlawful retaliation and gender discrimination.

"Doug Christie is notorious for refusing even basic contact with all women, except with his wife, Jackie," said the lawsuit, filed in Sacramento Superior Court. "Jackie Christie is likewise notorious for policing her husband's contacts with women."

The case was dismissed, according to the Christies' publicist. Shepard could not be reached for comment, and the Kings declined to comment.

"My husband is a public figure and for some reason, they've made me one as well," Jackie says. "They've reported on our marriage and followed us around and conjured up stories, just digging for everything possible. I think through the reality show, we can tell our side of the story."

"It might not be so much as to set the record straight, but to set the record because people have to judge for themselves," Doug says of "Committed," a 30-minute, six-episode series that was originally pitched to VH-1 before finding a home on BET J.

The show's timing is a little odd because Doug, 36, a former Rainier Beach High School graduate and Sonics first-round draft pick in 1992, has been out of the NBA for nearly a year while rehabbing a left ankle injury. He currently isn't with a team.

"Basketball is important to me and I still want to play, but it's just a part of my life," Doug says. "You'll see that in the show. My family is everything. That comes first."

Despite their close connection, Doug and Jackie couldn't be more different.

The youngest of nine siblings, she's feisty and opinionated, while he's an only child and is soft-spoken and reserved. She never attended college and worked part-time as a model. He went to college at Pepperdine University, just outside Malibu, Calif.

They grew up in the Rainier Valley and Central District neighborhoods and met through a mutual friend at a Seattle sports bar in 1992. He asked for her phone number, but never called. A few weeks later, they met again at a party.

This time, Doug asked her to dance, and as Jackie puts it: "The music has never stopped."

Every year on their July 8 wedding anniversary, the Christies re-marry. Some ceremonies are lavish, while others are intimate.

"When I met Doug, I just knew this is somebody I wanted to share my life with," Jackie says, smiling. "I want to be his queen and he's my king."

She pauses, then laughs.

"I know how that might sound to some people, but I don't care. I want to be everything to him, for him and about him. Nothing will change that. Ever."

Percy Allen: 206-464-2278 or pallen@seattletimes.com