Alvin Gentry fired as Pelicans head coach

The New Orleans Pelicans are in the hunt for a new head coach.

As first reported by Adrian Wojnarowski and Andrew Lopez of ESPN, the Pelicans have fired coach Alvin Gentry after five seasons.

New Orleans has dismissed coach Alvin Gentry, sources tell @_andrew_lopez and me.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 15, 2020

The decision to move on from Gentry doesn’t come as an enormous shock. He had made the playoffs just once in five seasons, falling short this year after going 2-6 in bubble play. In addition, the Pelicans brought in a new basketball operations department last season headed by David Griffin. That group did not hire Gentry, but inherited him, making his position somewhat tenuous unless he brought quick success.

The Pelicans’ job should be of major interest to head coaching candidates, as they have a good young core led by last year’s top pick Zion Williamson. We have already heard of two fairly big names who were linked to the role even before Gentry’s dismissal.