Alvin Gentry out as head coach of the Phoenix Suns
Jan 18, 2013, 5:53 PM | Updated: 7:08 pm
Alvin Gentry is no longer the head coach of the Phoenix Suns, as it was announced Friday that he and the team have decided to part ways.
The Suns lost 98-94 to the Milwaukee Bucks at US Airways Center Thursday night. The defeat, their fourth straight at home, dropped the Suns’ record to a Western Conference-worst 13-28.
Gentry was in his fifth season as head coach of the Suns and had compiled a record of 158-144. The 58-year-old became the coach of the team in February of 2009 on an interim basis when Terry Porter was fired in his first season on the job. Gentry guided the Suns to an 18-13 mark the rest of the season. He was given the job on a permanent basis following the completion of the 2008-09 season
Undoubtedly, the finest moments of the Gentry era came in the 2009-10 season when the Suns reached the Western Conference Finals before falling to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games. Los Angeles would go on to defeat the Boston Celtics to win the NBA championship.
The Suns have missed the postseason in three of the last four seasons and are very much in danger of doing so again this season.
The Suns don’t play another game until next Wednesday when they travel to take on the Sacramento Kings.
