Fansided

What each NBA coach would be doing if he wasn’t an NBA coach

By John Buhler

Apr 25, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Billy Donovan coaches against the Houston Rockets in game five of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 25, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Billy Donovan coaches against the Houston Rockets in game five of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 1, 2016; Bossier City, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry on the bench against the Dallas Mavericks during a game at CenturyLink Center. New Orleans won 116-102. Mandatory Credit: Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 1, 2016; Bossier City, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry on the bench against the Dallas Mavericks during a game at CenturyLink Center. New Orleans won 116-102. Mandatory Credit: Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports /

Alvin Gentry: Bassist for a one-hit wonder funk band from the 1980s

Alvin “Chipmunk” Gentry is the greatest bass player you’ve never heard of. He is considered to be the James Jamerson of funky studio bass. NOBODY pops like the Chipmunk, not even Flea. Gentry has been a secret producer to every Red Hot Chili Peppers album that featured John Frusciante on guitar. He’s basically the George Martin of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Sorry, Rick Rubin.

Before doing serious work in the studio slapping the bass, mon, Gentry was the featured player for the 1980s funk group out of South Detroit called The Space People. They went Top-40 just once, but their debut album Out of this World went triple-platinum.

The problem for The Space People was that Gentry had never heard of the song “Walk the Dinosaur” by Was (Was Not). Bassist Don Was claims that The Chipmunk copied his signature bass line from that funky fresh track. In the early 1990s, they reached a settlement, but financial struggles from the litigation process brought an end to The Space People.

Gentry would work a few odd jobs in the late ’80s to early ’90s to support himself. It was a tough couple of years for him, but he met some Chili Peppers under a bridge in Los Angeles. Little did he know that his music career would take off more than The Space People ever did.

Blood Sugar Sex Magik has gone seven-times platinum. While Gentry didn’t work on the commercial disaster that was One Hot Minute, he spent the rest of the 1990s playing bass on a show about nothing called Seinfeld. Once Seinfeld ended in 1998, Gentry found Frusciante and cranked out three more awesome records with the Red Hot Chili Peppers: Californication, By The Way and Stadium Arcadium.

Once Frusciante had enough of the Chili Peppers, Gentry would leave their Los Angeles studio for good. He has since found success for Bruno Mars, The Weeknd, and is secretly the third member of Daft Punk. Gentry doesn’t understand robots and isn’t into masks, so that’s why he doesn’t tour with the French duo.

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