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The Kings are about to begin their search for a new coach, and they are expected to interview a long list of candidates. According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, former NBA head coaches Mike D’Antoni and Mark Jackson will be among the candidates considered.
Additionally, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski listed NBA assistant coaches Mike Brown, Steve Clifford, Darvin Ham, Charles Lee and Will Hardy as coaches on the interview list.
The Kings fired coach Luke Walton in November after a 6–11 start to the season, becoming the first team to make a coaching change in the NBA this year. Alvin Gentry took over as interim head coach, going 24–41 over 65 games, but the team decided against making him the permanent leader.
D’Antoni and Jackson are the two biggest names in the Kings’ coaching search. D’Antoni has spent 16 years as a head coach for five different NBA franchises, most notably the Suns, Knicks and Rockets. He has coached just under 1,200 games as a head coach, totaling 672 victories in that span.
Jackson is best known for being an NBA color commentator for ESPN, but he also spent three years as the Warriors head coach. Over that time, Jackson won 230 games and made the playoffs in each of his last two seasons.
When the Kings decide on a new coach, it will be their 12th since 2006, when Sacramento parted ways with Rick Adelman. The Kings have not made the playoffs since that season, the longest playoff drought in the NBA.
