Sacramento Kings launch search to replace interim coach Alvin Gentry; candidates emerge
The Kings are launching a comprehensive search for a new coach after relieving Alvin Gentry of his interim head coaching duties Monday.
Gentry was informed he was no longer the team’s interim head coach after the Kings concluded another disappointing season with a 116-109 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Sunday, league sources told The Sacramento Bee. The Kings finished the season with a 30-52 record, missing the playoffs for an NBA-record 16th consecutive season.
“The entire Kings organization is grateful for the leadership of Alvin Gentry, who stepped up when he got the call mid-season,” Kings general manager Monte McNair said in a news release Monday. “We appreciate his leadership on and off the court.”
Gentry said he hoped to return as the team’s head coach next season, but he didn’t rule out the possibility of remaining in Sacramento in a different capacity, saying he would discuss it with McNair and assistant general manager Wes Wilcox. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Kings and Gentry, who has one year remaining on his contract, are discussing a potential role in the team’s front office.
“We’re going to meet and talk and we’ll see how that works out,” Gentry said. “I do like Sacramento. I think we have Monte and Wes and all the basketball ops people, who are really sharp people. They’ve proven that with the drafts we’ve had already the past two years. I think you just continue to grow, and obviously we need to add talent to our team, and I think we’ll do that, and regardless of what happens, if I’m here or I’m not here, I do think the thing is heading in the right direction, and that’s the main goal.”
A league source told The Sacramento Bee assistant coaches Mike Longabardi, Doug Christie, Jonah Herscu, Rico Hines, Lindsey Harding and Stacey Augmon were still with the team following the news about Gentry. It remains to be seen whether they will remain with the team after a new head coach is hired.
Gentry, 67, has 34 years of NBA coaching experience, including 18 seasons as a head coach with the Miami Heat, Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Clippers, Suns, New Orleans Pelicans and Kings. He came to Sacramento to join former coach Luke Walton’s staff as associate head coach in October 2020. He was appointed as interim head coach in November when Walton was fired after the Kings went 6-11 to start the season.
Gentry acknowledged that taking over under those circumstances was difficult.
“I think it’s unfortunate, the situation how I became the head coach here,” Gentry said. “I don’t wish that on anyone and I’ve had it happen both ways to me, where I’m the one who’s been relieved of the duties or I’m the one who’s taking over. I don’t think anybody gets a big kick out of getting a head job that way.”
The Kings made a big move at the trade deadline to acquire two-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis in hopes of salvaging their season, but they failed to reach the play-in tournament after going 24-41 in their last 65 games under Gentry.
A list of potential candidates has emerged over the past few days. Some of the names that have surfaced are Kenny Atkinson, Mike Brown, Steve Clifford, Mike D’Antoni, Darvin Ham, Mark Jackson, Charles Lee and Terry Stotts.
This story was originally published April 11, 2022 at 11:00 AM.
