SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The Sacramento Kings have added two members to Head Coach Dave Joerger’s staff, naming Bob Thornton an assistant coach and Larry Lewis as a player development coach.

Thornton arrives in Sacramento with more than 30 years of basketball experience as a player, coach and personnel scout, having spent the previous five seasons in Memphis alongside Joerger after four years as an advance scout for the Oklahoma City Thunder (2007-2011). His coaching resume includes two seasons as an assistant coach for the Chicago Bulls (2002-04) and Minnesota Timberwolves (2005-07) and as head coach for the Huntsville Flight of the NBA D-League (2001-02) and the Continental Basketball Association’s Quad City Thunder (2000-01).

Selected by the New York Knicks in the fourth round of the 1984 NBA Draft, the Los Angeles native played eight seasons in the league and three overseas in Italy before breaking into the coaching ranks as an assistant with Chapman University in 1997.

Lewis joins Sacramento’s bench after spending the last three seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers in a similar capacity. Prior to his elevation to the Lakers, he served two seasons as an assistant coach for the L.A. D-Fenders of the D-League. In his first year as a coach after a long international playing career, Lewis helped the franchise post the best regular season record in D-League annals (38-12) and earn eight NBA call-ups. Named an assistant on the D-League Select Team in 2012, he played a central role in the D-Fenders capturing the Development Champion Award, bestowed on the team that best embodies the D-League’s goals of developing talent via call-ups and player assignments.

In addition to his experience on the sidelines, Lewis’ eclectic international playing career spanned 19 seasons and four continents, including stops in Argentina (2011), Spain (2001-11), Japan (1996-2000), Cyprus (1996), Great Britain (1993) and the Dominican Republic (1992). He also played one season in the United States Basketball League with Sarasota (1996), in the CBA with the Harrisburg Hammerheads and Rapid City Thrillers (1994-95) and for the silver medal winning Team USA in the Pan American Games (1995).

A Morehouse College alumnus, Lewis turned professional in 1992 when he was drafted by the Albany Patroons of the CBA.



