Steve Kerr made it known during his opening press conference that ownership will let him select his coaching staff spared no expense. The first domino seems to have fallen as the Warriors have agreed to terms on a reported three-year deal with former Phoenix Suns head coach and Los Angeles Clippers assistant Alvin Gentry.
First reported by Kevin Pick of Eurobasket.com and later confirmed by Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports:
Alvin Gentry to Golden State as assistant coach, I’m told.
— David Pick (@IAmDPick) June 19, 2014
Alvin Gentry has agreed in principle to join Warriors staff, agent Warren LeGarie said.
— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) June 20, 2014
Ex-LAC asst. Alvin Gentry has agreed to a 3-year context to be associate head coach of the Warriors under first year head coach Steve Kerr. — Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) June 20, 2014
Warriors likely doubled Alvin Gentry’s salary with the Clippers to steal him away, a source said.Gentry & Kerr have ties dating to Suns days — Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) June 20, 2014
This news comes as another assistant coach candidate, David Blatt, is all but confirmed headed to the Cleveland Cavaliers to become their head coach. The Warriors were reportedly interested in Blatt for their coaching staff as well.
Steve Kerr was GM of the Suns when Gentry was both an assistant and head coach.
Gentry spent last season as an assistant to Doc Rivers in Los Angeles and has head coaching stints with Miami, Detroit, Los Angeles Clippers and most recently Phoenix. In his most successful season, Gentry went 54-28 with the Suns and lost in the conference finals — after sweeping the San Antonio Spurs in the semifinals — to the Los Angeles Lakers.