Why Kings GM Monte McNair fired Luke Walton. Why now? What will change with Alvin Gentry?
Kings general manager Monte McNair addressed the media Sunday after announcing his decision to fire Luke Walton and appoint Alvin Gentry as interim head coach.
Walton’s time in Sacramento came to an inglorious end after a fan barfed on the court in a blowout loss to the Utah Jazz on Saturday night at Golden 1 Center. The decision to fire Walton didn’t happen overnight, but the organization quickly lost confidence in his leadership as the Kings (6-11) lost seven of their last eight games after going 5-4 to start the season.
It wasn’t long ago that McNair made the decision to bring Walton back for his third season in Sacramento, saying he believed Walton would be the one to lead the Kings back to the playoffs, so how did we get here? What went wrong? Why did McNair feel now was the time to make a change?
Let’s take a look at some of the questions and answers from McNair’s news conference.
Why now? If Walton was the right man for the job to start the season, why fire him after just 17 games?
“The start of the year was a lot of what we were hoping for, and we really thought it could have been even better,” McNair said. “I think we saw a lot of the things that we thought this team could do, but these last eight games were a change, and, for me, the question became what’s the best way to move forward, and that’s my job at every point in the season.”
Will this change anything? The Kings have the same players and the same coaching staff, minus Walton, so what does McNair expect this team to do differently?
“I think, for us, it’s continuing to do the things that got us off to a better start, and do it more consistently,” McNair said. “I think Alvin will put his stamp on things a little bit, just given his experiences, but, again, I think we have shown that we can do it, and it’s just doing it more consistently.”
Gentry, 67, has more than 30 years of NBA coaching experience with a 510-595 (.462) record as a head coach with the Miami Heat, Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix Suns and New Orleans Pelicans. He joined the staff in Sacramento as associate head coach in October 2020.
Was continuity a factor in McNair’s decision to make Gentry the interim head coach?
“I think Alvin, certainly, and the rest of our coaching staff, there will be some continuity, but also Alvin’s done a great job at many different spots,” McNair said. “I think Alvin has seen a lot of things. He has a wealth of experience.”
Will Gentry make any significant changes to the team’s lineup or rotation? The most-used lineup of De’Aaron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton, Harrison Barnes, Maurice Harkless and Richaun Holmes has a point differential of minus-2.5 over 93:50. The current starting lineup of Fox, Haliburton, Barnes, Chimezie Metu and Holmes is minus-1.8 over 60:39.
The lineup of Fox, Davion Mitchell, Buddy Hield, Harkless and Holmes is plus-37.5, but that group has logged only 11:50 out of a possible 816 minutes. The lineup of Fox-Mitchell-Hield-Barnes-Holmes is plus-20.4 in 36:50. Some might like to see more of the Fox-Mitchell-Haliburton-Barnes-Holmes lineup, but the Kings don’t see Haliburton as a small forward and that group has a point differential of minus-2.0 in 16:22.
What about Marvin Bagley III, the No. 2 pick in the 2018 NBA draft? Bagley was not part of the rotation at the start of the season. He appeared in three games over the past week, but he was out of the rotation again in Saturday’s loss to the Jazz.
Does McNair anticipate any rotation changes?
“As always, that’s the coach’s decision,” McNair said. “Alvin will make those decisions. I think we know we’re not where we want to be. We have 17 guys on the roster. Whoever is going to do the things that Coach Gentry asks them to do, and that can win us games, is going to be out there playing.”
Was there something that set off alarm bells for McNair beyond wins and losses?
“It’s a results-based business, but I think it’s more of, ‘What can we do to get this back on track?’” McNair said. “I think, offensively, we’ve played fast at times, but I want us to play even faster. I think we can be the fastest team in the league with De’Aaron, Tyrese and the rest of the guys we have. Defensively, we’ve shown some improvement, but we have to be able to finish possessions. We have to be able to get off the floor on the defensive end and get into our offense, and we have to finish games. We were 5-4, but we felt like we could have even been better, and then during this 1-7 stretch we had a couple of games that we let slip through. I think those are things we’ll continue to focus on and that Alvin will address with his staff to the players.”
Several players have spoken out in support of Walton, including Fox, Haliburton, Barnes and Holmes. How did the players take the news when McNair met with them Sunday?
“As always, (I am) always in communication with our players and around the team,” McNair said. “I’ll keep all the kind of internal stuff internal, but, yeah, we addressed the team. I think the guys remain confident. We all know we have to get out of this 1-7 stint that we’ve had, but I think there’s a belief in the locker room. I have belief in that locker room, and talking to Alvin and the rest of the coaches, they do, too, so no doubt we’ll get out of there, and I think the guys are excited for tomorrow.”
There was some speculation Sunday that the Kings were considering first-year assistant coach Doug Christie for the interim head coaching job. Why did McNair choose Gentry instead?
“Doug’s been great since coming in, obviously a former player, former Sacramento King, and his energy and playing experience has been awesome,” McNair said. “He’ll continue to be a huge part of our coaching staff, but Alvin just brings a wealth of experience. Somebody who has seen it all and we felt he was the best to lead us going forward the rest of the year.”
Did McNair feel Walton’s voice was no longer resonating with players after the team went 31-41 in each of his first two seasons?
“It wasn’t any one thing,” McNair said. “It was a combination of things, but sitting here with where we’ve been the last two weeks, we felt we weren’t getting the consistency and certainly the results we wanted. We all need to be better. This is not on any one person, but we did feel this was the change that was best to get us back to where we need to go.”
This story was originally published November 22, 2021 at 6:45 AM.
