The Kings have churned through 10 coaches in 15 years since Rick Adelman left Sacramento in 2006. Now, they are looking for another one.
The Kings fired coach Luke Walton Sunday morning just 17 games into the 2021-22 NBA season, multiple sources told The Sacramento Bee, confirming a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The team sent out a news release confirming the reports around noon.
“After a thorough evaluation of the season thus far, I decided to make a change to the head coach position,” Kings general manager Monte McNair said in a written statement. “I want to thank Luke for his efforts and contributions to our team.”
There was immediate speculation Sunday morning that associate head coach Alvin Gentry or assistant coach Doug Christie could take over as interim coach in Sacramento. After some discussion within the organization, the Kings appointed Gentry, 67, as interim head coach.
Gentry, who is under contract through the 2022-23 season, will be at the helm when the Kings play host to the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday. He has a 510-595 (.462) record over 17 seasons as a head coach with the Miami Heat, Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix Suns and New Orleans Pelicans.
The Kings went 5-4 to start the season despite playing the most difficult early schedule in the NBA, but they have lost seven of their last eight games to fall to 6-11. “Fire Luke Walton” chants were heard inside Golden 1 Center on Friday and Saturday during blowout losses to the Toronto Raptors and Utah Jazz.
Kings owner Vivek Ranadive sat in his usual courtside seat during both games, flanked by President of Business Operations John Rinehart and Chief Operating Officer Matina Kolokotronis. Ranadive was seen peering over at the Sacramento bench at times, even when the Kings had the ball at the other end of the court.
Sources close to Walton seemed resigned to his fate in private conversations in recent days. One referred to Ranadive as “the forever chaos agent.” The Kings have gone 228-343 (.399) since Ranadive purchased the team in 2014. They have gone through five head coaches and three general managers in seven-plus seasons.
Walton, 41, was asked how he was handling the pressure prior to Saturday’s 123-105 loss to the Jazz.
“It’s a hard job,” Walton said. “We all know that, but it’s the job that we love to do. As a head coach, you take a lot of that on, or as a GM, you take a lot of that on, and we understand that, so it’s tough, but I’m fine. The only thing I really care about is that our players are staying focused on what’s the most important thing, and that’s how we play. We’ve gotten away from that a little bit lately and that’s where we were doing such a good job with all the work we had put in going into the season.”
Pressure on Walton continued to mount in recent days after reports surfaced suggesting his job could be in jeopardy if Sacramento’s struggles continued. Kings guard Tyrese Haliburton spoke out in support of his coach following Friday’s 108-89 loss to the Raptors.
“I got his back,” Haliburton said. “I’m pretty sure we all do. I don’t have to say I’m pretty sure. I know we all do. He’s put a lot of time and a lot of trust into us as players, and when you get that from a coach who invests in his guys, it’s hard not to like him, to be honest with you.
“I’ve always had his back because he’s been nothing but great to me and good to these guys, and it’s not on him. It’s not. He did not shoot 32 of 84 from the field. He did not shoot 64% from the free-throw line. Our staff did not do that. That has nothing to do with them. We just have to be better down the line and guys know that.”
Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox offered a similar assessment of the situation.
“He’s not out there missing box outs or not making shots or allowing guys to get in the paint,” Fox said. “So, as a player, everybody needs to do their job at the end of the day.”
Haliburton added: “I think at this point, every game, it feels like a must win. We have to correct this and we have to correct it fast.”
Walton acknowledged that speculation about his future in Sacramento was putting undue pressure on his players.
“Yeah, it always does,” Walton said following the loss to the Raptors. “Look, it’s hard to win in this league anyway. That’s why we always talk about controlling what we can control, and I appreciate their support, but I don’t want them even having to think about that.
“I know what the reality of what this league is, but we need our guys focused on what we’re trying to accomplish out there. That’s why it’s important that we’re always staying locked in as a group and doing our best not to let anything from the outside come in, because it just makes things more challenging. So, we’ll continue to preach that message, but we’ve got to be focused and locked in on Utah now and playing much better tomorrow.”
Walton spent two seasons as an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors from 2014-16 before he was hired as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers in 2016. Walton parted ways with the Lakers after going 98-148 over three seasons in Los Angeles, but the Kings hired him 48 hours later after firing former coach Dave Joerger in April 2019.
Walton arrived in the summer of 2019 and was immediately shrouded in a cloud of controversy, as Los Angeles media personality Kelli Tennant alleged in a lawsuit Walton sexually assaulted her in a Santa Monica hotel room when he was an assistant coach with the Warriors in 2014. Tennant also said Walton sexually harassed her in 2017, when he was coaching the Lakers and she was working for Spectrum SportsNet.
The Kings’ four-month investigation found insufficient evidence to support claims made by Tennant. Investigators said they interviewed more than 20 people, including friends and former colleagues of Tennant and Walton. Tennant wasn’t one of them. She declined to cooperate with investigators. Tennant eventually asked for the case to be dismissed.
