List of NBA player-coaches
A player-coach is a member of team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties.[1] The term can be used to refer to both players who serve as head coaches or as assistant coaches. In the National Basketball Association (NBA), there have been 40 players who also served as their teams' head coaches at the same time. The NBA was founded in 1946 as the Basketball Association of America (BAA).[2] The league adopted its current name at the start of the 1949–50 season when it merged with the National Basketball League (NBL).[3] After the salary cap was instituted in 1984–85 season,[4] the NBA has prohibited teams from employing a player-coach.[5] The ruling was established to avoid the possibility that a team would circumvent the cap by signing a player as a player-coach, as coaches' salaries are not counted under the cap.[6]
Ed Sadowski was the first player-coach in the league. In the BAA's inaugural season, he played for the Toronto Huskies and also served as the team's first head coach.[7] Buddy Jeannette was the first player-coach to win the championship; he won the 1948 BAA Finals with the Baltimore Bullets.[8] Bill Russell is the only other player-coach who has won the championship, as well as the only player-coach to win multiple championships. In 1966, he took over the Boston Celtics' head coaching duties from Red Auerbach, becoming the first African American head coach in the league.[9] He served as the Celtics' player-coach for three seasons, winning two consecutive NBA championships in 1968 and 1969.[10][11] Dave DeBusschere became the youngest head coach in the league's history when he was appointed as the Detroit Pistons' player-coach at the age of 24 in 1964.[12][13] He held the position for three seasons before returning to a full-time player in 1967.[14] Dave Cowens is the last player-coach in the league. He coached the Celtics in the 1978–79 season before relinquishing his coaching duty to focus on his playing career.[15]
Richie Guerin had coached 372 games as a player-coach, the most among the other player-coaches. He was the player-coach of the St. Louis / Atlanta Hawks for five seasons, from 1964 to 1967 and from 1968 to 1970. Before the 1967–68 season, he retired from playing to become a full-time head coach. However, he came back from retirement to play in the following two seasons while still serving as the Hawks' head coach.[16] Lenny Wilkens, who is in second place for highest number of games as a player-coach, was the only player-coach who has been employed by more than one team. He spent three seasons as the Seattle SuperSonics' player-coach and one season as the Portland Trail Blazers' player-coach.[17] He is the only player-coach (along with Russell) who has been inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach.[18] Other than Wilkens, twelve player-coaches have been inducted as players while two player-coaches have been inducted as coaches. The Coach of the Year Award was never won by a player-coach.
Wilkens went on to become the longest-tenured head coach in the league. In addition to 4 seasons as a player-coach, he spent another 28 seasons as a head coach, winning an NBA championship in 1979.[19] San Francisco Warriors player-coach Al Attles retired from playing duty in 1971, but continued to coach the Warriors for another 12 seasons, leading them to an NBA championship in 1975.[20] Alex Hannum, Red Holzman and Kevin Loughery, who served as player-coaches for less than a season, had a lengthy coaching career in the NBA which lasted more than 10 seasons. Hannum spent 11 seasons as a full-time head coach, winning two NBA championships with two different teams.[21] Holzman coached the Hawks for 4 seasons, including a season as a player-coach, and the New York Knicks for 14 seasons. He led the latter to two NBA championships.[22] Loughery served as the head coach for six NBA teams during his 18-year coaching career, including a year as a player-coach.[23] Wilkens and Holzman were named among the Top 10 Coaches in NBA History announced at the league's 50th anniversary in 1996.[24] Wilkens, along with Bob Cousy, Dave Cowens, Dave DeBusschere, Bob Pettit, Bill Russell and Dolph Schayes, were named to the list of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, which was also announced at the league's 50th anniversary.[25]
Key
[edit]Yrs | Number of years coached |
G | Games coached |
W | Wins |
L | Losses |
Win% | Winning percentage |
^ | Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player |
* | Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach |
^* | Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach |
Player-coaches
[edit]Notes
[edit]- a Each year is linked to an article about that particular BAA / NBA season.
- b Each year is linked to an article about the BAA / NBA Finals in that year.
- c Each year is linked to an article about that particular BAA / NBA season or the NBA All-Star Game in that year.
- d 1 2 3 The original Baltimore Bullets, who folded in 1954,[106] are not affiliated with the present-day Washington Wizards, who were known as the Baltimore / Capital / Washington Bullets from 1963 to 1997.[107]
- e The original Denver Nuggets, who folded in 1950,[108] are not affiliated with the present-day Denver Nuggets, who were founded in 1967 as a member of American Basketball Association (ABA).[109]
- f The Anderson Packers, who folded in 1950,[110] are not affiliated with the present-day Washington Wizards, who were known as the Chicago Packers from 1961 to 1962.[107]
- g 1 2 The Waterloo Hawks, who folded in 1950,[111] are not affiliated with the present-day Atlanta Hawks, who were also known as the Milwaukee / St. Louis Hawks from 1951 to 1968.[112]
References
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- ^ "Bob Cousy Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on May 7, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2010.
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- ^ "Dolph Schayes Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on October 13, 2012. Retrieved May 24, 2010.
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- ^ "Bob Feerick Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on June 14, 2011. Retrieved May 24, 2010.
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- ^ "Ed Macauley Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on August 16, 2011. Retrieved May 24, 2010.
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- ^ "1959 NBA All-Star Game". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on June 24, 2008. Retrieved November 14, 2010.
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- ^ "Mike Todorovich Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on June 17, 2010. Retrieved May 24, 2010.
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- ^ "Tom Marshall Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on September 18, 2022. Retrieved May 24, 2010.
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- ^ "Slick Leonard Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on March 9, 2011. Retrieved May 24, 2010.
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- ^ "Dick McGuire Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved May 24, 2010.
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- ^ "Fred Scolari Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on October 1, 2009. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
- ^ "Fred Scolari Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on March 6, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
- ^ "Howie Schultz Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on April 17, 2010. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
- ^ "Howie Schultz Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on May 1, 2010. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
- ^ "Bones McKinney Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on July 28, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
- ^ "Bones McKinney Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on May 15, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
- ^ "Charley Shipp Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on April 17, 2010. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
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- ^ "Alex Hannum Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on May 15, 2010. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
- ^ "Kevin Loughery Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on December 22, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
- ^ "Walt Budko Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on April 17, 2010. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
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- ^ "Nat Hickey Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on April 17, 2010. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
- ^ "Nat Hickey Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
- ^ "Jack Smiley Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on August 19, 2010. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
- ^ "Jack Smiley Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on June 5, 2023. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
- ^ "Red Holzman Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on May 15, 2010. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
- ^ "Bruce Hale Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on April 30, 2009. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
- ^ "Bruce Hale Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on June 16, 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
- ^ "Ed Sadowski Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on April 17, 2010. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
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- ^ "Bob Pettit Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on October 18, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
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- ^ "John Logan Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on December 24, 2010. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
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- ^ "Dick Fitzgerald Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on April 17, 2010. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
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- ^ "Terry Dischinger Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
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See also
[edit]- List of National Basketball Association players
- List of National Basketball Association head coaches with 400 games coached