ALVIN GENTRY – LESSONS LEARNED AS A 30 YEAR NBA COACH (EP. 031):
In today’s episode, we sat down with long time NBA coach Alvin Gentry.
Coach Gentry has spent over 30 years as a coach in the NBA and was most recently the Head Coach of the New Orleans Pelicans. Growing up in Shelby, North Carolina, Coach Gentry had plenty of stories about cutting his teeth on the court with his cousin and former NBA star David Thompson.
In this episode we discuss:
- What the job of an NBA Head Coach entails
- Coach Gentry’s path to the top of his sport
- A “WOW” moment with Zion Williams
In 1989, Gentry began his NBA coaching career as an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs under Larry Brown, where he coached for three seasons. He then moved to Detroit following the 1994–95 season where he served as an assistant for two and a half seasons before being named head coach late in the 1997–98 season. Coach Gentry took over the head job for the Clippers from 2000-2003. Later, he became an assistant coach for the Phoenix Suns for six years, serving under head coaches Mike D’Antoni and Terry Porter; and was named Suns’ head coach for the 2009-2010 season. In 2013 he returned to the Clippers organization, taking the title of associate head coach, making him Doc Rivers’ lead assistant.
After one season with the Clippers, Gentry signed a three-year contract as associate head coach for the Golden State Warriors. In 2015, he signed with the Pelicans, prior to the start of the NBA Finals, but was to remain with Golden State until the series was completed; Gentry won his first NBA Championship with the Warriors that year.
Connect with Alvin Gentry: LinkedIn | Instagram | Twitter
Connect with Beau Estes: | Twitter |
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SHOW NOTES
- What it was like growing up with his cousin, David Thompson, and watching his rise to fame (3:50)
- Was there a moment growing up where Alvin realized that his cousin was a superstar (6:00)
- Did Alvin put any pressure on himself since his cousin was getting a lot of attention (8:10)
- What kind of basketball player was Alvin Gentry (9:10)
- At what point did he realize that coaching was something he was interested in (10:26)
- How did his first full-time job come about (12:40)
- How important does he think the relationship aspect of his work is (16:11)
- Alvin talks about his Kansas experience with Larry Brown at NCAA National Championship (18:00)
- What lessons did Alvin learn from Larry Brown (20:45)
- What was the jump from college basketball to the League like for Alvin (24:07)
- Alvin breaks down the components of coaching (25:30)
- How did he learn the process of keeping his players motivated (27:00)
- How do you keep yourself motivated (30:30)
- Do you feel more pressure as a coach to keep up with the changing game then you did in the past (34:00)
- Have you had moments when you are coaching players when something happens that leaves you speechless (37:50)
- The importance of confidence for coaches and how much it has grown (39:25)
- Over the years, what do you focus on the most while doing your job (43:00)
- Consistent things that young people can be doing to mark them for success (45:48)
- How was Alvin’s NBA bubble experience (46:55)
- Advice on how to get better every day (49:00)
- What are Alvin’s career aspirations at this point (51:35)
- What are some of the most memorable moments in his career (53:00)
- What advice does Alvin have for someone looking to follow in his footsteps (54:05)
- How does it feel knowing you’ll never hit a drive as far as your son ever again (55:10)
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