Pelicans hire Gentry as coach


Gentry has a 335-370 career record, including 158-144 in five years with the Suns. He also worked in New Orleans in 2003-04 as an assistant. Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The New Orleans Pelicans have selected Alvin Gentry to be their next head coach.

Gentry, a Golden State Warriors assistant, agreed to a deal after he interviewed in New Orleans for a second time this week. ESPN reported that the Pelicans selected Gentry over NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy.

“I’m truly honored for the opportunity to lead the Pelicans as their head coach and am anxious to get started,” Gentry said in a statement Saturday night.

Gentry will remain with the Warriors through the NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The series starts Thursday night.

“We are excited to announce that Alvin Gentry is the new head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans,” general manager Dell Demps said. “We warmly welcome Alvin and his family to the Pelicans organization. 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.”

The Pelicans fired Monty Williams on May 12 after five seasons as coach and a first-round playoff exit. With star forward Anthony Davis anchoring the roster, the job is considered an attractive opportunity.

Gentry has 12 years of NBA head coaching experience with the Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Clippers, Detroit Pistons and Miami Heat. In 2010, he led the Suns to the Western Conference finals.

Gentry has a 335-370 career record, including 158-144 in five years with the Suns. He also worked in New Orleans in 2003-04 as an assistant.

Last May, Gentry joined the Warriors as associate head coach and offensive coordinator after Steve Kerr was hired as head coach. The Warriors won 67 games during the regular season and advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1975.

—Cleveland Cavaliers power forward Kevin Love, speaking to the media for the first time since having season-ending surgery on his shoulder, expects to be back in Cleveland at the start of next season

“I truly haven’t even thought about it, but as I mentioned, I expect to be suiting up for Game 1 (of next season),” Love said.

When asked by a reporter if it would be for the Cavaliers, Love responded, “Yes, sir.”

Love said he is “happy with how things are progressing” in his rehab.

Love, who is in his first season with LeBron James and the Cavaliers after an offseason trade from the
Minnesota Timberwolves, has a player option for the 2015-16 season and could decide to opt out by June 30 to become a free agent.

Love has one year remaining on his contract that would pay him $16.7 million for next season. He could either negotiate a new deal with Cleveland, which could offer him a five-year contract, or test the market as an unrestricted free agent, where the most he could get is a four-year deal per the terms of the league’s collective bargaining agreement.

Love was playing in his first-ever playoff series when he dislocated his shoulder in Game 4 of the first-round series against the Boston Celtics on April 26. Boston forward Kelly Olynyk pulled down on Love’s left arm and yanked it out of the socket.

The Cavs have gone 8-2 since Love went out, beating the Chicago Bulls in the conference semifinals before sweeping the Atlanta Hawks to earn the franchise’s first trip to the NBA Finals since 2007.

The Cavs face the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night to start the best-of-seven series. Love will join his teammates for Games 1 and 2 at Oracle Arena in Oakland.