The Sacramento Kings have been down in the trenches for a long time and the situation is yet to improve for the franchise. The Kings were last seen in the NBA playoffs back in the 2005-06 NBA season. Since then, the franchise has had the longest ongoing drought of playing in the postseason.
Many hoped hiring Luke Walton might turn things around for the organization. But as we are aware, the experiment failed. Walton was recently fired by management after coaching the team for two-plus seasons.
Following the departure of Walton as the head coach, associate head coach Alvin Gentry has assumed the responsibilities of the interim head coach. Gentry could get the job on a full-time basis depending upon whether he can salvage something from the 2021-22 NBA season.
Walton, despite never ending a season with more wins than losses in his stint with the Kings’ coach, has a surprisingly good record. He finished his time with the team with a record of 68-93.
Now at first look, it might not seem like a huge achievement. But thanks to Reddit user u/wiseman-burner for compiling the list of the 10 best coaches as per winning percentage since moving to Sacramento in 1985, Walton had the second-best coaching record. The list is as follows:
- .633 Rick Adelman (395-229)
- .422 Luke Walton (68-93)
- .415 Reggie Theus (44-62)
- .403 Phil Johnson (81-120)
- .403 Garry St. Jean (159-236)
- .402 Eric Musselman (33-49)
- .398 Dave Joerger (98-148)
- .393 George Karl (44-68)
- .386 Rex Hughes (22-35)
- .368 Mike Malone (39-67)
The above-mentioned list serves as a prime example of how underwhelming the Kings have performed over the last few decades. With Luke Walton now gone, maybe, just maybe, Alvin Gentry will turn things around for the franchise.
Since the Kings’ playoff drought, Gentry will become the 11th person to don the head coaching duties for the franchise. This will be the sixth time in his career that Gentry will become a head coach.
Prior to joining the Kings, Gentry served as the head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans for five seasons. It was not a successful period for him, but he will hope to write a new chapter of his coaching career this season.
