Alvin Gentry Joins Warriors Coaching Staff (Photo Credit: USA Today)
The NBA coaching carousel never stops.
No sooner had the Cleveland Cavaliers settled on David Blatt as their next head coach than did reports surface of the Golden State Warriors making a strong push to make Alvin Gentry their next coaching hire.
Blatt, who emerged as a strong candidate for the Warriors top assistant a number of weeks ago, had been waiting for the Cavaliers head coaching search to conclude before considering an offer to join Steve Kerr‘s staff.
Enter Gentry, who built a strong relationship with Kerr during their shared time with the Phoenix Suns.
Gentry spent 10 seasons in Phoenix as both an assistant and head coach, while Kerr first joined the team as a consultant before becoming team president and general manager.
Like Blatt, Gentry is the well-traveled veteran coach the Warriors sought to help guide Kerr through his first year coaching at any level.
He boasts more than 30 years of experience at the NCAA and NBA level, including 12 seasons as head coach.
A month ago it would have been easy to see Gentry becoming the Warriors Head Coach. Steve Kerr was leaning towards an offer from Phil Jackson and the New York Knicks, and Gentry was on the short list of remaining candidates.
Fast forward to Thursday, and Yahoo! NBA’s Marc Spears is confirming the former Phoenix Suns coach as Kerr’s top assistant, potentially for the next three years.
Gentry, who served as Doc Rivers‘ associate head coach with the Los Angeles Clippers during the 2013-14 NBA season, is expected to accept a deal that will nearly double his salary, and likely make him one of the highest paid assistants in the league.
The Warriors have shown in the past how serious they are about hiring top-notch assistants to man their coaching staffs.
Perhaps it’s more their penchant for hiring first time coaches, but each of the past three off-seasons have seen the Warriors add highly regarded aides, from Mike Malone to Darren Erman and Brian Scalabrine (though the latter two didn’t work out very well).
There are still a number of hires left to be made, and Kerr has made clear some of the coaches he’s targeting: Boston Celtics assistant Ron Adams and San Antonio Spurs “shot doctor” Chip Engelland.
Gentry is great start for Kerr, who will need a coach he knows and can trust by his side throughout his first season as a coach.
Their longstanding relationship and Gentry’s experience could help make for a smoother transition into the Western Conference, where 48 wins isn’t enough to make the playoffs.
There’s work left to be done. Gentry even took to Twitter for the first time in months to explain nothing was yet official, despite confirmation from his agent that he was expected to accept the job.
It’s no mistake this happened quickly. The Warriors have bigger fish to fry this off-season, and the Love sweepstakes have only just started to heat up.
Gentry should be just the start to an exciting Warriors’ off-season.
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