The New Orleans Pelicans have officially fired head coach Alvin Gentry, according to Adrian Wojnarowski and Andrew Lopez of ESPN. Last week, there were reports that Lakers assistant coach Jason Kidd (as well as former almost-Lakers head coach Tyronn Lue) were expected to be candidates for that job if it opened up.
Now that it is vacant, the Pelicans are expected to look hard at both of them. And they aren’t the only team interested, according to Marc Stein of the New York Times:
Clippers assistant coach Ty Lue and Lakers assistant coach Jason Kidd are expected to be prime candidates for the Pelicans' coaching vacancy, league sources say, with Lue and Kidd also both on the Nets' list of prospective candidates when Brooklyn's search starts in earnest soon
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) August 15, 2020
Kidd is reportedly “eager” to be a head coach again after most of his first season with the Lakers, and his reps are definitely working overtime to get his name out there, as he’s already been linked to the Nets job at least twice prior to this and was additionally reported as “a frontrunner” for the New York Knicks head coaching gig (and got an interview) before they ultimately hired Tom Thibodeau.