Knowing that your seat will always have some heat under it is one thing; living it when that heat gets turned up is another altogether.

Today Inside Sport takes a look at the NBA coaches who are feeling the heat.

Alvin Gentry

Yesterday’s loss to Oklahoma City left the Pelicans at the foot of the Southwest Division with a 6-14 record.

The Pels were in an awkward spot when Anthony Davis made it clear he was done with the team at the end of last season, but some lottery fortune, savvy off season additions, and the haul from the Davis trade looked to set New Orleans up for a solid rebound season.

Even a preseason injury to Zion Williamson wasn’t causing anyone to pump the brakes.

A 1-7 start, however, has had coach Alvin Gentry playing catch up all season long. In his previous coaching roles, Gentry has gained a reputation as an up-tempo offensive mastermind – a D’Antoni light, if you like. On the flip side, he was also considered a coach that couldn’t organise an average NBA defense.

The Pels have done nothing to change ether of those prevailing opinions.

With ball in hand, New Orleans are 7th in the league, scoring 114.5 points per game. Former Laker and #2 pick Brandon Ingram has flourished under Gentry’s tutelage – and perhaps the freedom of playing out of LeBron’s shadow. He’s putting up a nightly 26/7/4 with a block thrown in, stepping up to become the leader of the team.

At the defensive end of the floor, the Pelicans struggle mightily. They’re currently conceding 118.8 points per game, to sit a lowly 28th in that measure. Supposed defensive anchors like Jrue Holiday, Derrick Favors and Lonzo Ball have been ineffectual at that end, for a variety of reasons.

The Pelicans have recovered somewhat from their early woes, and the fact that his players seem to love him will hold some sway with the front office, but Gentry will want to see a significant improvement in the team’s defense and overall record once Williamson is on the court, or he might just be keeping the seat warm for someone else.

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David Fizdale

The Knicks, at 4-16, sit dead last in the NBA standings.

Aside from a couple of vengeance-fuelled performances against Dallas, the Knicks' only wins have come against fellow Eastern strugglers Chicago and Cleveland.

Currently on a six game losing streak, it would be assumed that any coach with this sort of record and disjointed performances would be under fire.The infamous press conference from front office paid Steve Mills and Scott Perry just fanned those flames.

The reality of the Knicks season is this: they are the worst team in basketball.

New York are 28th in offensive rating, 29th in defensive rating. They have given up career games to such luminaries as Coby White and Devonte Graham. The Spurs broke their eight game losing streak on New York's home floor. They even let Ben Simmons hit a three.

Unfortunately for Coach Fizz, it's just a matter of time before he's the latest sacrificial lamb, offered up by a rotten to its core organisation.

Terry Stotts

In his 8th season at the helm of the Trailblazers, coach Terry Stotts is at a crossroads. He’s overseen the successful changing of the guard from LaMarcus Aldridge to Damian Lillard as the team’s superstar, and the positive cultural identity that brings.

With Stotts patrolling the sideline, the Blazers have reached the playoffs for seven straight seasons, winning a pair of Divisional titles and making the Western Finals last season.

Blazers GM Neil Olshey, despite last seasons success, chose to shake things up in the off season, letting starting forwards Mo Harkless and Al Farouq Aminu depart, with the headline addition being much maligned Miami big man Hassan Whiteside.

The results haven’t been great. Portland are at the bottom of the (admittedly strong) Southwest Division, and sit outside the surprisingly open Western Conference playoff picture.

Stotts, for all of the positives he’s brought to Portland, hasn’t found a way to vary the offense and take attention away from star guards Lillard and CJ McCollum. In the playoffs, teams have consistently picked on the Blazers defensively challenged back court.

Success tends to cover over cracks such as those, but once that record starts to slide, so does a coaches safety net.

The Blazers are missing starting bigs Zach Collins and Jusuf Nurkic. Once those two return, the heat will be on Stotts to get things back on track.

If he can get the Blazers back to the playoffs and make waves once there, the goodwill generated by his previous performances should carry him through. If they’re on the outside looking in, Portland could look to make a change at the top – both Stotts and Olshey will be looking over their shoulders.

Luke Walton

There was a time when Luke Walton had it all.

The son of an NBA Hall of Famer, Luke himself had a long and successful playing career, including being a starter on a pair of championship teams.

As a developing young coach, he took over the Warriors for a period in in the 2015-16 season. With Steve Kerr injured, he led the Warriors to a 39-4 record. The most sought after young coach in the league was snapped up by his beloved Lakers, and immediately cemented his reputation as a players' coach.

With LeBron in town, being nice to people didn't cut it anymore. Walton proved unable to handle the 'win now' pressures of coaching James nor the personalities that he brought with him.

Whilst his sacking was inevitable, landing a job with the young Kings, replacing the successful but abrasive Dave Joeger seemed the cushiest of landings.

About that.....

The Kings started 0-5 and whilst they've righted the ship since that horrid start, this just isn't the Kings side that almost made last season's playoffs.

Marvin Bagley's suspension and De'Aaron Fox's injury have kept two of the teams best sidelined, but the Kings have frankly performed better without them.

That may seem like a slight against those two, but it's really a concern that Coach Walton hasn't figured out how to best use his two cornerstone players.

It's all well and good to get role players playing hard, and slowing the game down to keep things close, but these Kings are made to run.

Walton's challenge is to merge the run and gun stylings of Fox, Bagley, Buddy Hield et al with a solid defensive base. Basically, see if he can make this team a mini Warriors.

Yes, that's a thankless task. So far, Walton hasn't looked up to it, though. Surely the Sacramento decision makers will give him the season to figure things out, although they've made hasty calls on coaches before.

At 38 years old, Walton is still a very young coach, but it's fair to say that he's no longer the Bright Young Hope that he was just two years ago.

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Jim Boylen

Boylen's reign in Chicago didn't start particularly well, but to his credit the Bulls coach has softened his ways and adapted to a more modern style of coaching, both tactically and philosophically. Zach LaVine, in particular, speaks glowingly about his coach.

The support of your star can only get you so far, however. The Bulls cannot be pleased with a 6-14 record. Much maligned front office pair Gar Forman and John Paxson tried to speed up the rebuild this year, bringing in Otto Porter Jr via a trade with Washington and free agents Tomas Satoranksy and Thad Young to mentor their cadre of youngsters.

It's hasn't gone well.

Lauri Markkanen has struggled to find form all season, before it was reported that he had been carrying an abdominal injury. The vets haven't really done much of anything on the floor. LaVine has been as inconsistent as always, throwing fire before disappearing.

Wendell Carter has been solid. The 2nd year centre has proven to be the building block the team hoped for. However one success story won't be enough for Boylen to save his skin come seasons end if the Bulls stay on their current 24 win pace.

Gregg Popovich

Many will be surprised to see this name appear on this list.

Unlike the coaches already discussed, Coach Pop's hot seat isn't about any potential firing, rather it's about maintaining Pop's unparalleled reputation for reinventing his ball club on the fly.

Even casual NBA fans are aware of the Spurs playoff streak, but the Spurs success stretches longer that just that 1997 aberration. Since joining the NBA in 1977, San Antonio have only missed the playoffs four times – and only once since 1989. That puts into perspective what a lottery appearance means for this franchise.

Since picking Tim Duncan #1 back in 1997, the Spurs have had precisely zero top 10 draft picks – this is a team built on a front office that played the margins better than anyone and a coach that has continually reinvented his style to best suit his troops.

Seeing the Spurs sit at 7-14, with a lifeless and ageing roster is jarring for veteran hoop heads. This isn't the Spurs! They're supposed to find a 2nd rounder and some kid from Venezuela and turn them into potential Hall of Famers. Pop quiz (pun intended): who on this roster plays an All Star game in the next five years? Dejounte Murray, perhaps? Not unless he learns to shoot. After that it's crickets.

Yes, this roster is old. It's not exactly modern, with its mid-range fixation. It can't play defense – the bedrock of all Pop teams. A large chunk of that comes down to poor front office planning. But a serious portion of the blame is on the coach. A shapeshifter who has seemingly forgotten how to shift.

As sad as it is to say, we may be seeing Pop's last stand.

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