New Orleans Pelicans have a surprisingly successful season behind them, and their coach Alvin Gentry is one of the major reasons for that. Pelicans’ front office certainly thinks that way, since the team announced on Thursday that they agreed to a two-year contract extension with Gentry.
“We are thrilled to have Alvin as our head coach,” – said Pelicans general manager Dell Demps. “He did a tremendous job last season. When we faced adversity, Alvin and his staff continually discovered ways to place the team in situations where we could be successful.“
This extension will see Alvin Gentry staying with the organization through the 2020-2021 season since the Pelicans already the team option on the 2018-19 season before the start of 2018 NBA postseason. According to ESPN‘s Adrian Wojnarowski, the extension will give Gentry a salary raise for the next season and a guaranteed contract for 2019-2020 while the terms for 2020-2021 will be performance-based.
After making a blockbuster trade in 2017 by acquiring center DeMarcus Cousins, New Orleans Pelicans had big plans for this season. After a good start of the season, the team found itself in a big trouble since Cousins was ruled out for the season. Pelicans managed to bounce back from this setback and finished the season as the sixth seed in the stacked Western Conference. They managed to sweep the third-seeded Portland Trail Blazers in the first round before being eliminated by the Golden State Warriors.
Alvin Gentry started his NBA coaching career with the San Antonio Spurs in 1989, serving as an assistant under Larry Brown. He later had the same role with several other NBA teams including the Los Angeles Clippers and Detroit Pistons, where he would later go on to become the head coach. Gentry was named New Orleans Pelicans head coach in 2015.
