MONROE, La. ? The National Basketball Association's Sacramento Kings
elevated current assistant coach and former ULM letterwinner Kenny Natt to the
position of interim head coach Monday morning after the organization dismissed
Reggie Theus.
Natt, a Bastrop, La., native and four-year letterwinner
at ULM from 1977 to 1980, has been an assistant coach in the NBA for 14 years.
Natt's NBA coaching resume includes nine
years as an assistant coach to Jerry Sloan where he helped the Utah Jazz to a
pair of NBA Finals and three seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers where he
helped the team to a 2007 NBA Finals appearance. Natt was in his second season
as an assistant with the Kings before being elevated to interim head coach.
The 30th selection in the 1980 NBA
draft, Natt started his professional career by playing one season with the
Indiana Pacers. He also played one year with each the Utah Jazz and the Kansas
City Kings before closing out his playing career in the CBA and World Basketball
League.
Natt closed out his four-year career at ULM by
garnering All-TransAmerica honors (now the Atlantic Sun Conference) after
averaging better than 20 points as a senior. The younger brother of the program's
all-time leading scorer Calvin Natt, Kenny Natt finished his collegiate career
with 1,003 points ? the 18th most in program history at the time of
his graduation.
Natt will go for NBA head coaching win number
one tonight when the 6-18 Kings host the 4-19 Minnesota Timberwolves at 7 p.m.
Pacific Time in Arco Arena in Sacramento, Calif.
