Kings part ways with Alvin Gentry as head coach

The Sacramento Kings fired Luke Walton as head coach in November after the team started the 2021-22 NBA season at 6-11. Associate head coach Alvin Gentry was promoted to the role of interim coach for the remainder of the campaign but could only slow the figurative bleeding. The Kings finished the season at 30-52 and 12th in the Western Conference standings to miss the postseason for the 16th consecutive year. 

Sacramento will again find itself going in a different direction during the offseason.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Monday that Gentry won't return as head coach for 2022-23. The 67-year-old still has one year left on his current contract and, per Wojnarowski, could instead move to a front-office role within the Kings as soon as later this week.

Wojnarowski named Milwaukee Bucks assistants Charles Lee and Darvin Ham, along with Golden State Warriors assistants Kenny Atkinson and Mike Brown, as potential candidates for the Kings. He added Steve Clifford and Mark Jackson as well. Sacramento reportedly could also consider hiring someone "with a history of turning lottery teams into playoff teams." 

According to Marina Drab of Sactown Royalty, NBA insider Marc Stein recently reported that Brown, Clifford, Terry Stotts and Mike D'Antoni are all "potential targets" for a Sacramento side that wants "a proven coach who can bring an immediate halt to the longest playoff drought in league history."