Before the Philadelphia 76ers took on the Sacramento Kings on Monday, which ended up being an impressive victory for Philadelphia, coach Doc Rivers addressed the Kings’ situation.
Sacramento fired coach Luke Walton on Sunday 17 games into his third season with the franchise. Sacramento had gotten off to a 6-11 start and prospects are not looking good for a team that has not made the playoffs since 2006. Walton compiled a record of 68-93 during his tenure in Sacramento.
The Kings named assistant coach Alvin Gentry as the interim coach and the Sixers were their first opponent since the firing of Walton. Rivers was upset to see Walton get fired, but he was also happy to see Gentry get another opportunity.
“I hate when anybody loses their job, No. 1, in Luke,” said Rivers. “I thought he had a tough job, honestly, and so I was never happy with that. Happy for Alvin. He’s a terrific coach. He really is. He was on my staff in LA for a year and probably shouldn’t have let him go. We allowed Golden State to steal him from us. We should have kept him, if we could have.”
Gentry has been a coach in multiple places in the NBA, most recently with the New Orleans Pelicans. He compiled a 175-225 record as coach of the Pelicans before heading to Sacramento to join Walton’s staff. He guided the Phoenix Suns to the Western Conference finals in 2010, and Rivers is confident that Gentry can help the Kings.
“He just he’s got a great basketball mind and he’s been around this kind of transition,” Rivers added. “I don’t know how many times he’s stepped in to take over teams. This is the sixth time. Think about that. That’s as nuts, but that’s also why teams want them around, just in case of something like he is a guy that has the ability to fix things. So he’ll be terrific here.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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