NS Sacramento Kings The captain promoted head coach Alvin Gentry to interim head coach after firing coach Luke Walton on Sunday, the team announced.
The Kings have lost seven of eight games and dropped to 6-11 during the season – making them 12th in the Western Conference. Some recent losses came to struggling teams like San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves.
“We all know we all have to get better, especially over the past two weeks,” said general manager Monte McNair. It’s not just about Luke. It’s about me, the rest of our coaches and players. Everyone admits that. ”
Gentry will take over his sixth NBA team. He will get a raise and already has a contract for the 2022-23 season on his assistant coach contract, sources said. Meanwhile, Kings assistant coach Rico Hines has been put on the bench, sources said. Hines was hired on the staff of Walton as a player development coach in 2019.
The Kings are discussing potential benchmarks of success for Gentry for the rest of the season so it can play a key role in keeping the job long, sources said.
“I think we have talent,” McNair said. We have proven that we can do it. We will go back to that and Alvin will be the one to lead us there. ”
However, this is a temporary coaching job and the struggling Kings will likely open another coach search during the season.
Walton was 68-93 for more than two seasons as the Kings coach.
The Kings have been one of the worst defensive teams in the league under Walton, placing 26th in defensive effectiveness this season and bottom in 2020-21. According to ESPN Stats & Information, this season, Sacramento also ranks 26th in defensive saves, 29th in paint points per game allowed and last in second chance points per game.
Sacramento has the longest playoff drought in the NBA (since 2006). In those 15 years, the Kings had 10 head coaches; Gentry will be the 11th team since Rick Adelman led the Kings to their final playoff berth.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this story.
