Former NBA player Tony Allen, who played 14 seasons in the league, went to great lengths to emphasize how bad one of his former organizations and coaches were, while appearing on the Chris Vernon Show.
Allen referred to the New Orleans Pelicans as one of the "worst organizations," and his head coach on that team, Alvin Gentry, as "one of the worst coaches in the world."
Tony Allen on playing for Alvin Gentry:
“One of the worst coaches in the world… Shout out to the Pelicans, that’s the worst organization.”
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"Yeah, he was one of the worst coaches in the world," Allen said about Gentry. "He was old, man. [He would] forget speeches like, 'Fellas, now when we... What they doing wrong?' He be like, 'Fellas, we all got a rebound and uh... What else they did? Oh yeah, get back in transition.'"
To mention, Allen did say Gentry didn't give him enough playing time, which was part of the reason why he was ragging on his old coach.
Allen ended his career with the Pelicans, appearing in 22 games with the team during the 2017-18 season and averaged 4.7 points and 2.1 rebounds in 12.4 minutes per game.
He then went on to elaborate his point of how bad the organization had been, while telling stories of what his time in New Orleans was like.
"Sometimes we had practice on the football field. We shooting baskets in the goal post... Whatever the Saints didn't eat, we got the leftovers. Shoutout to the Pelicans. That's the worst organization," Allen said.
In view of Allen's career, he was drafted in the 2004 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics and won a championship with the team in 2008.
Then from 2010-2017, Allen played on the Memphis Grizzlies, where he was regarded as one of the best defenders in the league with his suffocating on-ball defense.
Notably, he earned six All-Defensive team selections (3x first team), and will be getting his No. 9 jersey retired by the Grizzlies organization on March 15.
Allen's career averages include 8.1 points (47.5% FG), 3.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.4 steals.
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