The New Orleans Pelicans have hired Alvin Gentry to become their new head coach, as he will leave his position as Golden State Warriors assistant head coach.
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The 60-year-old agreed to the deal on Saturday, but will finish off the playoffs with the Warriors before taking over at his new team in the off-season with Golden State set to face the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday.
“We are excited to announce that Alvin Gentry is the new head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans. We warmly welcome Alvin and his family to the Pelicans organization,” general manager Dell Demps said in a statement.
“After assessing our team, along with the core values of the Pelicans, we created a list of characteristics and qualities we wanted in our head coach. We conducted an extensive coaching search that identified Alvin Gentry as the right person to lead our team.”
Gentry has been credited with playing a key role in developing the potent Warriors offense this season, and he will certainly relish the opportunity to work with Anthony Davis and a talented roster in New Orleans.
Davis averaged 24.4 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game this past season, and the 22-year-old will likely continue his ascent to become one of the top players in the league.
However, it still came as a shock that the Pelicans opted to fire Monty Williams earlier this month, despite the fact that he was able to guide them to the playoffs this year.
While their post-season run ended abruptly in the first round in a series sweep by the Warriors, it was still progress and many felt it was harsh to make such a decision.
Nevertheless, there will be a new man in charge next year and Gentry will hope to take up his new role with an NBA championship under his belt before he leaves the Oracle Arena.
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