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Alvin Gentry

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Alvin Gentry
Gentry in 2015
Sacramento Kings
PositionVice president of basketball engagement
LeagueNBA
Personal information
Born (1954-11-05) November 5, 1954 (age 70)
Shelby, North Carolina, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight218 lb (99 kg)
Career information
High schoolShelby (Shelby, North Carolina)
CollegeAppalachian State (1973–1977)
PositionShooting guard
Coaching career1980–present
Career history
As coach:
1980–1981Baylor (assistant)
1981–1986Colorado (assistant)
1986–1988Kansas (assistant)
1988–1990San Antonio Spurs (assistant)
1990–1991Los Angeles Clippers (assistant)
1991–1995Miami Heat (assistant)
1995Miami Heat (interim)
1995–1997Detroit Pistons (assistant)
1998–1999Detroit Pistons
2000–2003Los Angeles Clippers
2003–2004New Orleans Hornets (assistant)
2004–2008Phoenix Suns (assistant)
2008–2012Phoenix Suns
2013–2014Los Angeles Clippers (associate HC)
2014–2015Golden State Warriors (associate HC)
2015–2020New Orleans Pelicans
2020–2021Sacramento Kings (associate HC)
2021–2022Sacramento Kings (interim HC)
Career highlights and awards
As assistant coach

Alvin Harris Gentry (born November 5, 1954) is an American professional basketball executive for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A former basketball player and coach, Gentry has served as the head coach of six NBA teams. He served as an interim head coach for the Miami Heat at the end of the 1994–95 season, and later coached the Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix Suns, New Orleans Pelicans and Kings. He currently serves as the vice president of basketball engagement for the Kings.

Early and personal life

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Gentry was born in Shelby, North Carolina, where he grew up and attended Shelby High School. His first cousin is former NC State and NBA star David Thompson.

Gentry played college basketball at Appalachian State University, where he was a point guard under Press Maravich and Bobby Cremins. In 1978 he spent one year as a graduate assistant at the University of Colorado. After one year working in private business, he returned to the bench when he received his first full-time collegiate assistant coaching job at Baylor University under Jim Haller in 1980. After one year at Baylor, Gentry returned to the University of Colorado as an assistant coach from 1981 to 1986 under Tom Apke. From 1986 to 1989, Gentry served as an assistant at the University of Kansas under Larry Brown, where they won the 1988 NCAA National Championship.[1]

Gentry has been married twice and is the father of two sons and one daughter.[1]

Coaching career

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Early career

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In 1989, Gentry began his NBA coaching career as an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs under Larry Brown.[1]

Gentry joined Gregg Popovich, R. C. Buford, and Ed Manning as part of Larry Brown's assistant coaching staff for the Spurs when Brown left Kansas before the 1988–89 NBA season. After two seasons in San Antonio, Gentry left to become an assistant for the Los Angeles Clippers beginning in the 1990–91 season.

Miami Heat and Detroit Pistons

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For the 1991 season Gentry joined Kevin Loughery's staff as an assistant coach for the Miami Heat, where he coached for three seasons. He then moved to Detroit following the 1994–95 season where he served as an assistant for two and a half seasons before being named head coach late in the 1997–98 season.

Los Angeles Clippers

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Gentry returned to San Antonio as head assistant coach following the 1999–2000 season, where he was reunited with former co-assistants Gregg Popovich (the Spurs head coach and vice president of basketball operations) and R .C. Buford (the Spurs' general manager). But that assignment was brief, as Gentry accepted the head coaching position for the Los Angeles Clippers weeks after taking the San Antonio job. He led the Clippers to 31 wins and 39 wins respectively in his first two seasons as their head coach. Those seasons were marked by the solid play of young players, such as Darius Miles, Elton Brand and Lamar Odom. In Gentry's third season, however, the team regressed (despite the addition of Andre Miller), and Gentry was fired in March 2003, following a run of five consecutive defeats. His final record as Clippers head coach stood at 89–133.[2]

Phoenix Suns

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Gentry in 2009

Gentry later became an assistant coach for the Phoenix Suns for six years, serving under head coaches Mike D'Antoni and Terry Porter. When Porter was fired in his first season as head coach, Alvin Gentry took over on an interim basis. He was named Suns' head coach for the 2009–10 season. Gentry's record in his first year as head coach during the 2009–2010 season was 54 wins, a career high, against 28 losses. The Suns advanced to the Western Conference finals and lost to the Lakers in six games. He became the fifth head coach to lead the Suns to the Western Conference finals in his first full season.[3] Gentry figured out how to blend the two styles of D'Antoni and Porter. Comparing his coaching to D'Antoni, Gentry said "We are not seven seconds or less. We're 12 seconds or under. We don't take a lot of really quick shots. We don't play with that breakneck pace. We play with a rhythm." Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich remarked "One thing about Phoenix is they are better defensively than in the past. They're much more active, much more committed, they've taken responsibility to a much more significant degree than ever before."[4][5]

On January 18, 2013, Gentry mutually parted ways with the Phoenix Suns.[6] In July 2013, he returned to the Clippers organization, taking the title of associate head coach, making him Doc Rivers' lead assistant.[7]

Golden State Warriors

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After one season with the Clippers, Gentry was hired as associate head coach for the Golden State Warriors, working under new head coach Steve Kerr.[8]

New Orleans Pelicans

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On May 30, 2015, Gentry was named the head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans.[9][10] prior to the start of the 2015 NBA Finals, but was to remain with Golden State until the series was completed. The Warriors won the NBA Championship after they defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games to give Gentry his first NBA championship.

On August 15, 2020, after a disappointing performance in the NBA Bubble following the resumption of the 2019–20 season, Gentry was fired as the Pelicans' coach. He was 175–225 in five seasons. Often plagued by injuries, New Orleans used 140 starting lineups in that span, 11 more than the next-closest team in the league. Gentry left the Pelicans with the second-most wins in franchise history behind Byron Scott and was their only coach with a winning post-season record (5–4).[11][12]

Sacramento Kings

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On October 6, 2020, Gentry was named the associate head coach of the Sacramento Kings.[13][14] On November 21, 2021, Gentry was named the interim head coach of the Kings following the dismissal of Luke Walton.[15] On April 11, 2022, he was fired by the Kings.[16]

Executive career

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Following his dismissal as head coach, Gentry was retained by the Sacramento Kings as the vice president of basketball engagement.[17]

Head coaching record

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Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win–loss %
Playoffs PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win–loss %
Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
Miami 1994–95 36 15 21 .417 4th in Atlantic — — — — Missed playoffs
Detroit 1997–98 37 16 21 .432 6th in Central — — — — Missed playoffs
Detroit 1998–99 50 29 21 .580 3rd in Central 5 2 3 .400 Lost in First round
Detroit 1999–00 58 28 30 .483 (fired) — — — — —
L.A. Clippers 2000–01 82 31 51 .378 6th in Pacific — — — — Missed playoffs
L.A. Clippers 2001–02 82 39 43 .476 5th in Pacific — — — — Missed playoffs
L.A. Clippers 2002–03 58 19 39 .328 (fired) — — — — —
Phoenix 2008–09 31 18 13 .581 2nd in Pacific — — — — Missed playoffs
Phoenix 2009–10 82 54 28 .659 2nd in Pacific 16 10 6 .625 Lost in Conference finals
Phoenix 2010–11 82 40 42 .488 2nd in Pacific — — — — Missed playoffs
Phoenix 2011–12 66 33 33 .500 3rd in Pacific — — — — Missed playoffs
Phoenix 2012–13 41 13 28 .317 (fired) — — — — —
New Orleans 2015–16 82 30 52 .366 5th in Southwest — — — — Missed playoffs
New Orleans 2016–17 82 34 48 .415 4th in Southwest — — — — Missed playoffs
New Orleans 2017–18 82 48 34 .585 2nd in Southwest 9 5 4 .556 Lost in Conference semifinals
New Orleans 2018–19 82 33 49 .402 4th in Southwest — — — — Missed playoffs
New Orleans 2019–20 72 30 42 .417 5th in Southwest — — — — Missed playoffs
Sacramento 2021–22 65 24 41 .369 5th in Pacific — — — — Missed playoffs
Career 1,170 534 636 .456 30 17 13 .567

References

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  1. ^ a b c "NBA.com: Alvin Gentry Coach Info". NBA.com. Archived from the original on December 8, 2001.
  2. ^ Teaford, Elliott (March 4, 2003). "Nice Guy Gentry Doesn't Finish". Sports. Los Angeles Times. p. D1, D7. Retrieved November 5, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Suns Exercise Contract Option on Gentry". NBA.com. June 24, 2010. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
  4. ^ Abrams, Jonathan (May 10, 2010). "Suns Stop the Bleeding". The New York Times. Retrieved May 20, 2010.
  5. ^ Abrams, Jonathan (May 9, 2010). "A Tough and Bloody Test Ends in the Suns' Favor". The New York Times. Retrieved May 20, 2010.
  6. ^ "Front Office to Name Gentry's Replacement". NBA.com. January 18, 2013. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  7. ^ CLIPPERS NAME ALVIN GENTRY ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH AND ADD ARMOND HILL, KEVIN EASTMAN AND TYRONN LUE AS ASSISTANT COACHES
  8. ^ "Warriors Announce Steve Kerr's Coaching Staff". NBA.com. July 3, 2014. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
  9. ^ "New Orleans Pelicans Name Alvin Gentry Head Coach". NBA.com. May 30, 2015. Retrieved May 30, 2015.
  10. ^ "Alvin Gentry to be named New Orleans Pelicans head coach". ESPN.com. May 30, 2015. Retrieved May 30, 2015.
  11. ^ "New Orleans Pelicans dismiss head coach Alvin Gentry". ESPN.com. August 15, 2020. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  12. ^ "Alvin Gentry relieved of head coaching duties". NBA.com. August 15, 2020. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  13. ^ "Kings Name Alvin Gentry Associate Head Coach". NBA.com. October 6, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
  14. ^ "Alvin Gentry joining Sacramento Kings as associate coach". ESPN.com. October 6, 2020. Retrieved October 6, 2020.
  15. ^ "Luke Walton Relieved as Kings Head Coach". NBA.com. November 21, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  16. ^ "Interim Head Coach Alvin Gentry Relieved of Coaching Duties". NBA.com. April 11, 2022. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
  17. ^ "Alvin Gentry staying in Sacramento, takes on new role with Kings". kcra.com. May 16, 2022. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
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