Alvin Gentry’s time as Sacramento Kings head coach is over, according to a new report by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The Sacramento Kings won't bring back interim coach Alvin Gentry and are opening up a search for a new head coach, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 11, 2022
This isn’t surprising news, but news none the less. When Gentry took over as interim head coach after Luke Walton was fired, it was reported that there were certain benchmarks, likely a playoff berth, that Gentry needed to hit in order to keep the job and have the interim tag lifted. The Kings obviously didn’t get there.
Woj did note that the Kings are considering a front office position for Gentry, so there’s that.
The Kings and Alvin Gentry are discussing a front-office role and a resolution is expected sometime this week, sources tell ESPN. Gentry has a year left on his contract.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 11, 2022
The Gentry news isn’t as interesting as Wojnarowski’s follow-up report that included an early list of head coaching candidates Monte McNair is apparently interested in.
Sources: Kings search is expected to wide-ranging, including candidates with history of turning lottery teams into playoff teams. Among those expected to be considered: Kenny Atkinson, Steve Clifford, Mark Jackson, Mike Brown, Bucks assistants Charles Lee and Darvin Ham, more.
Veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein added some original reporting of his own, including a short list of candidates he is aware of.
Mike D'Antoni, Terry Stotts, Mike Brown and Steve Clifford are the veterans already being cited in league coaching circles as potential targets for Sacramento to replace Alvin Gentry, league sources say.
More coverage in my latest around-the-league notes: https://t.co/A5M1o1XPWg
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) April 11, 2022
This is a developing story with news and names coming down faster than I can get this post live, so stay tuned.
It begins…
(woo-hoo!)
Top of my list are:
1. Kenny Atkinson
2. Sam Cassell
3. Steve Clifford
4. Terry Stotts
5. Mike Brown
I hope its an extensive search. I still believe Quin Snyder would be available after this post season. If he is available, he jumps to the #1 spot. Although he would have plenty of suitors, I hope Monte can do his magic and can land Snyder as the coach.. If not, I would be happy with any of the 5 above.
Dark horse candidate that would ruffle s lot of feathers here would be IMO is Mark Jackson. It is definitely a possibility.
As long as Monte is making the decisions and it’s not Mark fucking Jackson, it’s all good.
This is the Kings one hope of getting good finally. If Vivek really just backs off it may work. If he decides to keep sticking his nose is hoops operations it’s over.
The Kings are a mess because the owner can’t see past his ego. The whole organization is run horribly. Time to change that. We shall see.
Bonus rec for specifying that Mark Jackson is a non-starter. God, he sucks.
He’s a tad crazy. Plus, I thought I’d read/heard Barnes left-had problems with Jackson because Barnes wasn’t a religious zealot like Jackson wanted-ran the Warriors.
Saw Jackson on a corner in the valley (SoCal) with a Bible proselytizing-shouting to anyone who would listen.
He seems unaware/in his own head. Doesn’t do much as a coach.
Why would that affect your analysis of a coach if he has preached Christianity on the street?
I’m a little surprised at the relative lack of love for Mike Brown. He’s led teams far into the playoffs (i.e. NBA Finals and Conference Semifinals/Finals) than a lot of the other candidates.
He’s also on the short list of head coaches to miss the playoffs with LeBron (him, Walton, Vogel). I don’t know that he’s a difference maker, but he seems to care about defense, which would be a refreshing change.
Monte can’t hire Mark Jackson for the sole reason that fans would immediately assume it was Vivek pulling the strings to get an old Warriors pal on the bench. Which may very well be the case.
And none of those guys will make a damn bit of difference with this current roster. I guess if one of them can convince one quality player to Sac then we’d otherwise wouldn’t get then okay. Let us in how you’ve worked with each of these guys, understand their philosophy, understand how they relate to players and get the best out of them, how successful they are out of the huddle, how good are they at game time adjustments, how effective are they utilizing their roster. It’s 98% roster and 2% coaching and even that 2% is questionable. These guys are all competent and the marginal difference between all of them is quite small. You ever notice how ordinary Pat Riley became after Magic and Kareem and others weren’t on his roster. Pat Riley the self proclaimed winner within me. Mark Jackson vs. Sam Cassell break it down for me. No no, please don’t.
True, Riley had a 15 win season in Miami and so did Kerr in G S . Even Pop had a 21 win season . Yes, it is all about the talent and Kings need more top level !
Yeah those Knicks teams sucked hard. They only made the EC Semis (or better) with Riley 4 times in the 4 years he was there. Riley had 60 win teams in LA, NY and Miami. But sure, it was all Kareem and Magic.
Do not go Gentry into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day in;
Rage, rage against the dying of the play in.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go Gentry into that Kings blight.
Good fans, the last wave by, crying how quick
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the pick.
Wild men who caught and chucked the ball in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go Gentry into that rim too tight.
Grave fans, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like Zach Randolph ’til gray,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, sweet Vivek, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, you now with my fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go Gentry into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
This is awesome!
You had this ready since the day after Walton was fired.
He probably fine tuned it by day 3 of Gentry’s tenure. Give Rob at least a little bit of editing credit.
Marvelous.
Are you familiar with this rendering?
Joe Dumars’s front office or Monty McNair’s?
What day is it?
Vivek Ranadive’s.
I got no way to back this up, but you have been saying this longer than anyone and you were right all along.
How about Ham reporting that Vivek made McNair keep Walton year 1 and probably the following. Or Vivek trying to hire Christie. Or a ton of other examples of him sticking his nose in it. Vivek has been fucking things up from the get go. Everything points to that.
I think, and Hamm seems to say, McNair fought off Vivek to not hire Christie and seems to have ahold (maybe) of hiring this coach.
Sorry Carl. My reading comprehension is low….didn’t see you agreed with Guru
No problem, pal. I cut grass for a living. “Comprehension” has at least 5 more syllables than I can understand.
‘You see, I’m more of a Sean Connery guy myself.’
‘No. Roguh Mowr.’
‘I mean, okay, I guess.’
100%. Vivek has been the problem and will continue to be unless he backs the fuck off.
I saw it immediately with Vivek. We all did….with firing Malone. 4 on 5 hoops. My antenna first went up when Vivek stopped taking advice from Jerry West.
This coaching search and the success or failure of this organization is totally dependent on Vivek getting his nose outta hoops decisions.
For sure, and that is my point.
Vivek makes the big calls but who does he listen to this off season?
Add Gentry into the mix, and whose voice is he backing? And heck, maybe Gentry’s voice surpasses them all. That’s been Vivek’s MO to date …
That’s a good question.
Not unexpected. Gentry seems like a decent man so I’m glad they gave him a soft landing to the front office. Not sure what his role would be. Head coach doesn’t mean much without talent. Golden States’ talent made Walton look like a genius. I’d prefer a younger college head coach to an older pro retread, but that’s Monte’s decision now. He’s been very good with the draft so I’m going to have to have a little faith.
I’ll say this for Gentry: In a clearly lost season, and as an old re-tread (and an interim re-tread, no less), he never lost the locker room and there were no grumblings of dissension on his account. He’s a pro and a fundamentally good coach. Wish him the best.
Well put.
Donte Divincenzo apparently disagrees.
I’d say he’s more pissed at McNair than he is with Gentry. McNair used the same tactic with Bagley. The FO is the entity that manages salary after all.
The confusing part for me is that his overall play (and especially his shooting) pretty much mirrors his career numbers. And he’s getting close to the same mpg that he got when he started for the Bucks, and in excess of his career numbers.
It ain’t the lack of minutes, Donte. It’s that your shot often times looks as though the hangar doors to the arena are open and the Delta breeze has whipped up.
If it hadn’t been for the ankle injury, he would have easily qualified for the starting criteria as far as the QO when it would have come to total minutes. And even then, it still doesn’t matter. With all his issue’s, is there anyone that doesn’t think he’ll get a minimum of 8M AAV for at least 3 years? That’s a lot more than 7.9 million, last I checked.
Hopefully it’s not from the Kings.
If DDV is really that upset at losing 1.3 million dollars in potential ‘salary’, he’s silly.
He’s mad that he didn’t start because he thought should be starting and that starting would have been a better showcase for the NBA given his status of being RFA this summer.
And for the 2nd paragraph, he’s got a point. I’m just not sure starting or coming off the bench made much of a difference in how anyone saw him.
Ham said the decision to have DDV coming off the bench was not an Alvin call, but an organization call, whoever that means…
Steve Kerr looked like a genius. Walton looked like an intern who was happy to be running things while the boss was out sick.
Kerr looked less a genius in the 15 win season .
You mean that season when Klay was out from his torn ACL all year, KD and Iguodola had just left and Curry played just 5 games because of a broken hand and then COVID happened?
Its amazing Kerr kept his job, right…?
No.
I liked Gentry, but as Rob would say, he was neither cause nor cure. I don’t think any of these guys are going to make a real difference without more top end talent. I expect 37-39 wins based on the talent on the team today, and that’s definitely an improvement.
But I also overshoot by 3 games every year, and I wouldn’t want to go into Sabonis final contract year as an under .500 team. Tinkering with the bench adds a win or two. Injuries might mean fewer.
New coach is great, but this team needs to add at least Barnes level talent to have a shot at the playoffs that doesn’t rely on a small chance of a lot of outliers happening all at the same time.
I think you start with the head coach and work your way up from there. It’ll be a lot easier to get players here if they think it will benefit their careers to do so. So far in the last 9 years (and beyond really), that has not been the case for many players. But getting a head coach that players actually see as being beneficial to them will help without question.
Mark Jackson? Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Alvin is a great guy. I wish he hadn’t been so enamored with Justin Holiday, but a class act all around.
interesting list, but please not MarkJackson!!!
And Jeremy Lamb.
Give me Kenny Atkinson, please.
No Steve Clifford, Mike Brown, or Mark Jackson. No Frank Vogel as well.
I would be okay taking a flyer on Charles Lee or Darvin Ham. I wouldn’t be too sad if we hired Stotts as well.
Also, big respect to Alvin. He was set up with an impossible task and handled it pretty well, considering the cards dealt. I will always root for him to succeed.
I wonder what an FO role for Gentry would look like, considering we have a GM, two assistant GMs and a ‘Chief Strategy Officer’ (?). What’s left? Assistant to the GM?
Special advisor of the special advisor to the chairman.
Assistant to the Regional Manager.
Schruted
He’s the new Slamson.
It is just a way to get work for the money he is owed . They should put him on TV .
Could be lots of room for Gentry once McNair finishes “restructuring”.
Total off topic but sabonis ain’t staying and prob ain’t staying long. Guy is renting and renting furniture as we speak. Looks like he’s really thinking long term.
I wouldn’t blame the guy, so far the team has done nothing to show him they are competent. They have a year to do so.
Oh I don’t either, just got told and saw that it was fact today and was like damn he’s really not planting anything here at all.
Here’s hoping McNair not only nails the coaching hire but also nailed the roster upgrades. I’m not advocating trading Fox but I wouldn’t be too upset with a starting back court of Mitchell and DDV for next season. Both of those guys are ballers.
As long as the return in a Fox trade is talented and plays defense well, I believe trading Fox would make the team better. They would still need another very good player as well.
I was hoping the team would cut bait entirely. What benefit could he have in the grunt office?
That’s supposed to be “front office” but I like the phone’s autocorrect better.
It really is a massive improvement.
Coffee run.
Pick up Joe Dumars’ dry cleaning.
Ticket sales: “Did you hear? I’m no longer the coach. Buy now!!!”
Distract Vivek with NBA war stories to keep him from meddling with the FO.
Just bring any ex-athletes to his office for him to fawn over.
He’s under contract under assistant coaches pay. I’m sure this is with the understanding that if he wants out to another team he’s welcome to go to that team. But he forfeits that pay. Until then, they’ll try to find value somewhere because he’s under contract and there’s no sense in firing him as long as it’s the case.
Makes sense. Thanks.
My concern is that they’d do a “you’re fired but not really fired because we don’t have the balls to fire anyone” like they did with Vlade.
Alvin Gentry is a great human being, I wish he was a great coach. Best of luck to him, whichever path he chooses…!
I sincerely hope Monte is allowed to set the bar a little higher than the coaching lists rolled out in this article. I’d rather watch a dog eat its own vomit than watch Mark Jackson try and coach this team…
LOL, Mark Jackson.
If there were betting odds in Vegas on the Kangz next head coaching hire, It would likely be Jackson, and it’s all thanks to Vivek.
Don’t fuck this up, Monte.
Somewhat off topic but Vivek related, I just read a short blurb on Yahoo Sports Hoop Hype stating Vivek was the genius who pushed for Bagley over Doncic because “he was a “big”who could run with Fox”. Just stick to signing the checks Vivek.
…on Yahoo News from Hoops Hype… my bad
The actual original article is on the SacBee website.
Of course. Vivek is an ego idiot. Thinks he knows. Piece of shit has run this team into the ground because he can’t see past his view.
Draft Luca. Keep Joeger. Set. Now it’s all down to Vivek getting the fuck out of hoops decisions. Will he????
Alvin Gentry is on the payroll and might still be needed for Assistant Coach duties – particularly if a newbie coach is hired (Doug Christie) or someone out of the League for a while (Mark Jackson) get the nod. Personally, if either of these two are promoted to Head Coach of the Sacramento Kings, it insures that the Vivek/Matina/Aneel Triumvirate are still calling the shots.
As I asked on a different thread – is there any juice with Monte McNair and any of the other candidates? Mike D’Antoni I would imagine, but I don’t see D’Antoni as someone who would be desirous of this position.
(and by the by – who can forget the wonderful interview with D’Antoni and his recalling a time with Corey Brewer?
Early this season, Brewer, who was traded to the Lakers in late February, took a pass on the baseline, drove, spun, shook two defenders with a 360 and missed a point-blank shot at the rim. “Coach, I did my thing,” he told D’Antoni, “but then I got to the rim and just ran out of talent.”
Mike Brown – certainly a defensive oriented coach and he’s in the shoulder shrug category aka “yeah, I guess”. Got Meh written all over that.
I kinda like Terry Stotts. From a small market franchise where he found good success – impressive success. Those teams, to me, overperformed. He’s got a Dave Joerger vibe and I like that for the Kings. His players, including Dame, were very thumbs on the guy. That should sit well with D’Aaron Fox I would guess. But who knows?
Darvin Ham, Sam Cassell – I just don’t know.
I would like to see a GM and a Head Coach who were both employed by the Sacramento Kings with Vivek Ranadive at the same time, show evidence that they work well and constructively with each other. The path out of the cellar demands it. (this all assumes the improbable – that Vivek and Co. are truly not in the process).
I really like Ham. He’s near the top of the list for me. He’s next up from the Budholzer tree of coaching. Atkinson is from that tree as well and is really the only retread I could get behind.
Darvin Ham was a Red Raider at Texas Tech and was coached by the legendary Bob Knight who had just been excused from Indiana Bloomington. Looking at his Wikipedia page, interestingly, he worked with Kayte Christensen (from that page:
He joined the Bucks in 2018 under Budenholzer.
I believe he’s been with Coach Bud since his Atlanta days. Didn’t he follow Bud from ATL to the Bucks?
Haha, Ham is a spook.
More CBA than CIA.
That’s in ‘Querque.
I’ve got my money on “Guy with a history of violence allegations.” Worked just fine for Chauncey Billups and Jason Kidd, after all. It’s the NBA way–and with a list of legends like Cousins, Barnes, Rondo, Lawson, Collison, and Davis, it’s clearly the Kangz way, too. What better way to win 30 games a season than with confirmed assholes wearing your team’s colors?
Don’t forget Josh Jackson and Richaun Holmes.
It’s hard to keep up since it’s so common.
If they hire Mark Jackson, I’m shuffling off the mortal coil of Kings fandom.
ONCE AGAIN, an impatient leak from the front office name-drops all the big candidates in order to appear competent.
Meanwhile, competent front offices just keep working.
They are so GD predictable.
I don’t understand why this is impatient. Was there something else to do?
I had the same question. These are all obvious names that one might want to talk to about the vacancy. It’s not like we’re getting Jay Wright if only McNair can keep his mouth shut.
I engage in my fair share of it, and so I can safely call this reflexive bitching. Why the rush to consider something a massive failure? Just wait, baby, we’ll get there.
Yea they probably know what they’re doing what was I thinking?
I don’t understand how leaking coaching names is a sign of impatience when other organizations do the same thing.
There’s plenty of ways to call this org incompetent, I don’t see this list as anywhere near the top of that incompetent list. Also, I don’t know what you’re thinking hence the original question.
My list is creative and robust.
Interesting list, and names I’ve not seen thrown around much so far. There is definitely coaching talent available out there.
I vote for Potapenko. Any guy who I used as a backup center during my days playing NBA Live 2001 in high school is worth a shot.
I’ll wait for the podcast.
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