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Alvin Gentry

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Alvin Gentry
Gentry in 2015.
New Orleans Pelicans
PositionHead coach
LeagueNBA
Personal information
Born (1954-11-05) November 5, 1954 (age 70)
Shelby, North Carolina
NationalityAmerican
Career information
High schoolShelby (Shelby, North Carolina)
CollegeAppalachian State (1973–1977)
PositionPoint guard
Coaching career1980–present
Career history
As coach:
1980–1981Baylor (assistant)
1981–1986Colorado (assistant)
1986–1989Kansas (assistant)
1989–1990San Antonio Spurs (assistant)
1990–1991Los Angeles Clippers (assistant)
1991–1994Miami Heat (assistant)
1994Miami Heat
1994–1998Detroit Pistons (assistant)
1998–2000Detroit Pistons
2000San Antonio Spurs (assistant)
2001–2003Los Angeles Clippers
2003–2009Phoenix Suns (assistant)
2009–2013Phoenix Suns
2013–2014Los Angeles Clippers (Associate HC)
2014–2015Golden State Warriors (Associate HC)
2015–presentNew Orleans Pelicans
Career highlights and awards
As assistant coach

Alvin Harris Gentry (born November 5, 1954) is an American basketball coach who is head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Gentry was a former college basketball player, who has led four different National Basketball Association (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, and Phoenix Suns.[1]

Early life

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. He also was an assistant coach at Baylor University under Jim Haller in 1980. After one year Gentry joined the University of Colorado staff. Gentry served as an assistant at the University of Kansas under Larry Brown, where they won the 1988 NCAA National Championship.[2]

Coaching career

In 1989 he began his NBA coaching career as an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs under Larry Brown. It was in San Antonio that Gentry met his future/current wife, Suzanne Harris. They have two children, Ryan and Jack.[2]

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. 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.

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 did a solid job with the Clippers his first two years, leading them to 31 wins and 39 wins respectively in those two seasons. Those seasons were marked by the solid play of youngsters, 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 February 2003.

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 2009-2010 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 in franchise history to lead his team to a Western Conference Finals berth in his first full season.[citation needed] 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."[3][4]

On January 18, 2013, Gentry mutually parted ways with the Phoenix Suns.[5] In July 2013, he returned to the Clippers organization, taking the title of associate head coach, making him Doc Rivers' lead assistant.[6]

After one season with the Clippers, Gentry signed a three-year contract as associate head coach for the Golden State Warriors, working under new head coach Steve Kerr.[7]

On May 18, 2015, the New Orleans Pelicans were granted permission by the Warriors to interview Gentry for their head coaching vacancy.[8] He signed with the Pelicans on May 30, prior to the start of the 2015 NBA Finals, but was to remain with Golden State until the series was completed.[9] The Warriors won the NBA Championship after they defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games to give Gentry his first NBA championship.

Head coaching record

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 Conf. 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) — — — — —
Career 705 335 370 .475 21 12 9 .571

References

  1. ^ Suns fire Porter with team in stall
  2. ^ a b http://www.nba.com/coachfile/alvin_gentry/index.html
  3. ^ Abrams, Jonathan (2010-05-10). "Suns Stop the Bleeding". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-05-20.
  4. ^ Abrams, Jonathan (2010-05-09). "A Tough and Bloody Test Ends in the Suns' Favor". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-05-20.
  5. ^ Front Office to Name Gentry's Replacement
  6. ^ CLIPPERS NAME ALVIN GENTRY ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH AND ADD ARMOND HILL, KEVIN EASTMAN AND TYRONN LUE AS ASSISTANT COACHES
  7. ^ Leung, Diamond (June 19, 2014). "Alvin Gentry to join Warriors staff as Steve Kerr's top assistant". San Jose Mercury-News. bayareanewsgroup.com. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
  8. ^ Helin, Kurt. "Report: Pelicans get permission to interview Warrior's assistant Alvin Gentry for coaching position". NBCSports. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  9. ^ "New Orleans Pelicans Name Alvin Gentry Head Coach" (Press release). New Orleans Pelicans. May 30, 2015. Archived from the original on May 31, 2015. {{cite press release}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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