Report: Kings assistant coach Alvin Gentry, Pelicans exec David Griffin had altercation
New Orleans Pelicans executive David Griffin and Kings assistant coach Alvin Gentry reportedly had to be physically separated during an altercation following a game in New Orleans last month.
According to Bleacher Report, Griffin and Gentry were involved in a heated exchange following Sacramento’s 113-99 victory over the Pelicans on Oct. 29 at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.
Gentry spent five years as the Pelicans’ head coach before Griffin fired him in August 2020, reportedly telling people around the league he had given Gentry “all the answers to the test, and he still fails.” Griffin hired Stan Van Gundy to replace Gentry, but Van Gundy was fired after one season.
Griffin reportedly approached Gentry after the game against Sacramento to “offer a warm hello,” but Gentry “brushed off his initial efforts as inauthentic.”
“You must not have given Stan the answers to the test, either,” Gentry shouted at Griffin before the two men had to be separated, sources told Bleacher Report.
Griffin, 48, is now in his third season as the Pelicans’ executive vice president of basketball operations. Gentry, 67, is in his second season as associate head coach in Sacramento, where he serves as coach Luke Walton’s lead assistant. The Kings have not responded to a request for comment from Gentry.
This story was originally published November 11, 2021 at 1:04 PM.
