Jeff Van Gundy and Tom Thibodeau were available, and instead they hired Gentry.
Whose career record as a head coach is 335-370.
He’s been an NBA head coach for all of part of 12 seasons. We say all or part because he was fired at midseason three times in those 12 years.
Twice in those 12 years he’s taken a team to the playoffs. So yeah – his record so far indicates he’s more likely to get fired at midseason at some point in the future than he is to make the playoffs.
Gentry is currently Steve Kerr’s right-hand man with the Golden State Warriors, who are in the NBA finals. Golden State has been sensational this year. Can’t argue with that team’s performance at this point.
Still, 12 years as an NBA head coach with four different teams – Miami, Detroit, the L.A. Clippers and Phoenix – is a relatively full record as a coach. And the verdict isn’t a great one.
This is either an absolutely brilliant hire which establishes the Pelicans’ top management as the most savvy in the NBA, or it’s a complete waste of an opportunity to put a coach in place who could entice Anthony Davis to stay in New Orleans, put a system in place and capitalize on a good nucleus of talent to build the next great contender in the Western Conference.
It’ll be one of the two. The guess is it won’t be anything in between.
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