After five full seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans, Alvin Gentry is reportedly out as their head coach.
He coached the Pelicans to a 30-42 record, but his team completely flopped during their appearance in the NBA’s bubble. They went a putrid 2-6 through eight games with wins over the lowly Wizards and the Memphis Grizzlies.
Gentry had just one year left on his deal and it was already rumored that he’d probably be out as the team’s head coach with just a few games left in the season.
The organization finally decided to dismiss Gentry on Saturday morning, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported.
New Orleans has dismissed coach Alvin Gentry, sources tell @_andrew_lopez and me.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 15, 2020
Gentry’s tenure with the Pelicans was long — it’s not often a coach gets five years to work things out. But in that time, he never truly had a real chance to succeed with them. Here’s what I mean.
Injuries ruled Gentry’s tenure with New Orleans
Availability is key when it comes to winning games. A team can have LeBron James in his prime on it, but if he’s not available to actually play in games it doesn’t matter.
That was the Pelicans’ biggest problem during Gentry’s tenure — there was always a lack of availability. He never had a consistent starting group to work with, as showcased by this staggering stat from ESPN’s Andrew Lopez.
Pelicans were plagued by injuries during Gentry’s tenure. They used a league-high 140 starting lineups in a possible 400 regular season games.
That’s the most starting lineups in the league in that span according to @EliasSports. https://t.co/wlqGMtxBCo
— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) August 15, 2020
From Anthony Davis to Zion Williamson and everywhere in between, the Pelicans have always had injury troubles. There isn’t a coach in the NBA who can succeed like that.
Oh, and the whole Anthony Davis thing
The whole trade demand didn’t help things at all. Davis essentially kept one foot out of the door during his last season with the Pelicans and Gentry had to sit through it all.
And no one can blame Davis. Other than the DeMarcus Cousins trade that worked for half a season until he tore his Achilles, the organization made no moves to put the Pelicans in true position to contend despite having a top 10 player.
They made solid acquisitions here and there — Jrue Holiday has blossomed as a Pelican, Nikola Mirotic was a major part of their sweep over the Trail Blazers, even Rajon Rondo (!!!) gave them good playoff minutes.
But most of those teams they couldn’t keep together. And, eventually, that wore on Davis. Which led to him wanting out. Which also led to another tumultuous situation for Gentry to coach through.
It’s fine for the Pelicans to move on
Pelicans team President David Griffin has his own vision for this organization and what it should look like. Clearly, that vision does not involve Gentry.
The timing is odd and it’s unfortunate. The team just picked up a generational talent in Zion Williamson and Gentry just coached Brandon Ingram into an All-Star caliber player. There were some positives to take out of this season for New Orleans.
Ultimately, the organization felt it was time to move on. It’s hard to fault them for it after five years. It wont’ be an easy job. They have to figure out the balance between Ingram and Williamson while making sure Williamson is healthy and in shape. And they have to do all that while clearly expecting to be a playoff team.
The path forward for the Pelicans won’t be an easy one, but now is their chance to shape it.
Luckily for them, Gentry already built the foundation. It’s a shame he won’t be able to reap the benefits.