Christopher Matthew Jent (born January 11, 1970) is an American basketball coach and former player who serves as an assistant coach for the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was formerly the head coach of the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA Development League, and had a stint as an assistant coach at the Los Angeles Lakers as well.
Jent was born in Orange, California and grew up in Sparta, New Jersey.[1][2] After attending high school at Sparta High School (New Jersey), he played college basketball for the Ohio State Buckeyes, leaving in 1992 after four seasons.
Undrafted in the 1992 NBA draft, Jent was drafted in the fourth round (50th overall) in the 1992 CBA draft.[3] Jent began his professional career with CBA teams Rapid City Thrillers and Columbus Horizon.[4]
He had a brief career in the NBA, playing three games each for the Houston Rockets (winning a championship ring in 1994) and New York Knicks (1996–97).[5] He played in 11 playoff games in 1994, thus giving him the rare distinction of having played in more career playoff-games than regular-season games in the NBA. In between his stints with the Rockets and the Knicks, he played with the Australian NBL's North Melbourne Giants in 1995 and also played in Italy, Spain and Greece.
Jent was an assistant coach for the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2003–04 season.
The next season, Jent worked in the same capacity with the Orlando Magic, and was appointed interim head coach for the final 18 games of the 2004–05 season (going 5–13), after Johnny Davis was fired. At the start of the next season he was replaced by Brian Hill.
Beginning in November 2006, Jent took on the role of Assistant Coach/Director of Player Development with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He served as LeBron James' personal shooting coach while James was on the team.[6]
On June 29, 2011, Ohio State head basketball coach Thad Matta introduced Jent as an assistant coach for the Buckeyes.
On June 10, 2013, Jent became an assistant coach with the Sacramento Kings.[7] He was relieved of his duty on December 16, 2014.[8]
Jent would later on be the newest head coach for the Bakersfield Jam in 2015 after their former head coach ended up accepting an assistant coach/leading player development position for the Phoenix Suns.[9]
Jent returned to Ohio State as an assistant following the 2015–16 season.[10]
For the 2017–18 season, Jent was hired as an assistant coach with the Atlanta Hawks.[11]
For the 2022–23 season, Jent was hired as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers.[12]
Chris Jent was hired as an assistant coach on Charles Lee's staff for the Charlotte Hornets in the 2024 offeason.[13]
Source[1]
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