An early list of Orlando Magic coaching candidates
Alvin Gentry
Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Tm | W | L | W/L% | Finish | W | L | W/L% |
2000-01 | LAC | 31 | 51 | .378 | 6 | |||
2001-02 | LAC | 39 | 43 | .476 | 5 | |||
2002-03 | LAC | 19 | 39 | .328 | 7 | |||
2008-09 | PHO | 18 | 13 | .581 | 2 | |||
2009-10 | PHO | 54 | 28 | .659 | 2 | 10 | 6 | .625 |
2010-11 | PHO | 40 | 42 | .488 | 2 | |||
2011-12 | PHO | 33 | 33 | .500 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
2012-13 | PHO | 13 | 28 | .317 | 5 | |||
Career | 335 | 370 | .475 | 12 | 9 | .571 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/21/2015.
Gentry has had plenty of opportunities. The chart above is not even his full coaching career. He had previous stops in Detroit and Miami in mid- and late-1990s. He was always the interim guy, a great lead assistant.
He has filled that role again with Steve Kerr, sort of guiding Kerr through the day-to-day of being a head coach while still being a good assistant.
There is a reason Gentry’s name keeps coming around in the coaching carousel. He is a good communicator and solid Xs and Os guy. At some point things have to click, right?
With so many jobs already under his belt, it may be time to just recognize he is a career assistant and not meant for the lead chair. Someone is going to give him that last head coaching job. And he has just two Playoff appearances to his 12 years as a head coach. That is not a great record, and probably not even enough to be counted as quality NBA experience.
Then again, he got an aging Suns team to a surprise Western Conference Finals once.
Waiting on Gentry will be the biggest task if this is who the Magic really want. The Warriors are likely not going to let him interview anywhere until after they are eliminated from the Playoffs. No one would blame Gentry for focusing more on the job at hand in getting the Warriors to a championship than a potential head coaching job.
Gentry does not inspire a ton of excitement, but he is a capable coach with experience.
Next: Scott Skiles