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Why did the kings fire Luke Walton? Sacramento fires head coach after lackluster start to the season



Luke Walton’s time with the Kings is over.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Kings fired Walton as the team’s head coach after starting the season 6-11.

Walton takes over as Sacramento head coach for 2019-20. The team posted a 68-93 record under Walton.

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Why did the kings fire Luke Walton?

After The Kings finished 31-41 in consecutive seasons, Sacramento general manager Monte McNair made it clear he expected the team to earn a playoff spot in 2021-22, much to the chasm pressure on Walton in the early stages of the campaign. The Kings have not appeared after the season since 2006.

“One thing that really helps us is (that is) we have very, very clear goals,” McNair to The Athletic’s Sam Amick in early November. “We want to get this organization back into the knockout stages. We want to get back there (and) help (that) us have a separate focus.”

McNair has backed Walton to start the season, saying he has done a “fantastic job” with the players and coaching staff, but faith in Walton begin to weaken when the Kings dropped out of the game against less-than-stellar opponents and landed near the bottom of the Western Conference rankings. Over the course of a November, Sacramento lost six of seven games, including an embarrassing performance against Toronto at home that left a group of fans at the Golden 1 Center chanting. “Fire Luke Walton.”

Walton was unable to consistently win during his tenure, and the senior office eventually ran out of patience. The Kings will now assign a roster of talented players like De’Aaron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield, Harrison Barnes and Richaun Holmes to someone else.

Who will replace Luke Walton as Kings coach?

According to Wojnarowski, Alvin Gentry is said to be “under consideration for an interim head coach.”

Gentry is currently the Kings head coach associate. Before joining the Kings, he was the head coach of the Pelicans for five seasons.

Contract Luke Walton

Former Kings GM Vlade Divac appointed Walton as the team’s head coach in April 2019, supposedly signed a four-year contract with him.

“I have known Luke for many years and I am delighted to welcome him and his family to the Sacramento kings,” Divac said at that time. “I look forward to his leadership on the pitch as we work to build a winning culture for years to come.”

Walton’s contract is said to cover the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons with a total value of $11.5 million.

Luke Walton Coaching Record

Season Team Take note % Win
2016-17 Lakers 26-56 .317
2017-18 Lakers 35-47 .427
2018-19 Lakers 37-45 .451
2019-20 Kings 31-41 .431
2020-21 Kings 31-41 .431
2021-22 Kings 6-11 .353
Job Lakers / Kings 166-241 .408

(Note: Walton led the Warriors to a 39-4 start to the 2015-16 season as Steve Kerr recovered from back surgery, but those wins are credited to Kerr.)





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