Alvin Gentry: Older Coaches Shouldn't Be 'Singled Out' in NBA Safety Protocols

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver admitted during his Thursday night appearance on TNT's Inside the NBA that "certain coaches" could be prohibited from coaching on the sidelines when the league resumes its 2019-20 season on July 31 "in order to protect them" from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic:

The presumption is that Silver was referring to older coaches as people over 65 years old are considered a high-risk population.  

"That doesn't make sense. How can I coach that way?" 65-year-old New Orleans Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry told ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, adding that he doesn't think older coaches "should be singled out."

Warren LeGarie, an agent for Gentry and 69-year-old Houston Rockets head coach Mike D'Antoni, expressed concern over such "stigmas":

Gentry expanded on his thoughts, per Shelburne:

D'Antoni also spoke for himself on the matter.

"I am sure they want to keep everyone safe, but to start singling people out with more risk, well, I would hope they wouldn’t want to get into that," he told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski on Wednesday.

Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle, who is the president of the NBA Coaches Association, later told Wojnarowski he spoke to Silver about the matter and the commissioner admitted he "jumped the gun." 

"I just spoke to Adam Silver and he admitted that he jumped the gun with his statement to TNT," Carlisle said. "The health and safety of our coaches is first and foremost. It's entirely possible that an NBA coach in his 60s or 70s could be healthier than someone in their 30s or 40s. The conversation should never be solely about a person's age. Adam assured me that we would work through this together to help determine what is both safe and fair for all of our coaches."

The NBA suspended the current season on March 11 due to public health and safety concerns associated with COVID-19. The league's board of governors approved a plan to resume earlier Thursday:

The remaining schedule will be played at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, with no fans in attendance. The 22 winningest teams will return:

San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is the oldest head coach in the league at 71 years old.