National Basketball Association

Ex-Wildcats Walton, Fraser join Kerr's Warriors staff

Published Jul. 5, 2014 7:51 p.m. ET

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OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Golden State Warriors have hired Alvin Gentry, Ron Adams, Luke Walton, Jarron Collins and Bruce Fraser to join new coach Steve Kerr's staff.

The Warriors announced Thursday night that Gentry will be Kerr's lead assistant. Gentry is a former coach of the Phoenix Suns, where Kerr was the general manager, and most recently was the top assistant on Doc Rivers' staff with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Adams has been an NBA assistant for 20 seasons after coaching at Fresno State and Fresno Pacific. Walton spent 10 seasons in the NBA after being drafted out of Arizona, where Kerr also played.

"I think (Walton is) going to do a great job," former Arizona coach Lute Olson told FOXSportsArizona.com's Steve Rivera. "He was always knowledgeable person and has always had great people and communication skills."

The fact Walton, who played 10 years in the NBA and won two titles with the Los Angeles Lakers, helped out last season with the Lakers' D-League affiliate last year will help his transition to an NBA bench. He was a former assistant to Josh Pastner during the NBA lockout a few years ago as well. Through in he has a great basketball IQ (he studied the game and is the son of former UCLA/NBA great Bill Walton) and it was obvious he was headed to be a coach.

"When he worked with Josh (at Memphis) as an assistant, Josh would always say he did a great job, working with the big guys and others," Olson said. "Helped them see the floor and helped them with the inside-out game. I think he'd be great"

Collins was a Stanford standout alongside twin brother Jason Collins and played 10 years in the NBA, including one season with Phoenix. Fraser played with Kerr at Arizona and also worked for him as a Suns scout.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.