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List of NBA player-coaches

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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]

A black bearded elderly man wearing glasses looks toward the right
Bill Russell won two NBA championships as a player-coach of the Boston Celtics.

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

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
** Currently Active Player

Player-coaches

More information Player-coach, Team(s) played and coached ...
Player-coach Team(s) played and coached Years[a] G W L Win% G W L Win% Championship(s) won[b] Honor(s) and award(s) won[c] Ref(s).
Regular season Playoffs
Richie Guerin^ St. Louis Hawks
Atlanta Hawks		 1964–1967
1968–1970		 372 199 173 .535 43 21 22 .488 None All-Star Game head coach (1969, 1970) [26][27][28][29]
Lenny Wilkens^* Seattle SuperSonics
Portland Trail Blazers		 1969–1972
1974–1975		 328 159 169 .485 — — — — None All-Star (1969, 1971)
All-Star Game MVP (1971)		 [19][30]
Paul Seymour Syracuse Nationals 1956–1960 279 155 124 .556 20 9 11 .450 None None [31][32]
Al Cervi^ Syracuse Nationals 1949–1953 267 170 90 .637 27 13 14 .481 None All-NBA Team (1950)
All-Star Game head coach (1952)		 [33][34][35]
Bill Russell^* Boston Celtics 1966–1969 245 162 83 .661 46 28 16 .609 2 (1968, 1969) All-NBA Team (1968, 1969)
All-Defensive Team (1969)
All-Star (1967, 1968, 1969)		 [36][37]
Dave DeBusschere^ Detroit Pistons 1964–1967 222 79 143 .356 — — — — None All-Star (1966, 1967) [38][39]
Buddy Jeannette^ Baltimore Bullets[d] 1947–1950 176 82 94 .466 15 10 5 .667 1 (1948) All-BAA Team (1948) [40][41]
Bobby Wanzer^ Rochester Royals 1955–1957 144 62 82 .431 — — — — None All-Star (1956)
All-Star Game head coach (1957)		 [42][43][44]
Carl Braun New York Knicks 1959–1961 127 40 87 .315 — — — — None None [45][46]
Al Attles San Francisco Warriors 1970–1971 112 49 63 .438 5 1 4 .200 None None [20][47]
Bob Cousy^ Cincinnati Royals 1969–1970 82 36 46 .439 — — — — None None [48][49]
Dolph Schayes^ Philadelphia 76ers 1963–1964 80 34 46 .425 5 2 3 .400 None None [50][51]
Andrew Levane Milwaukee Hawks 1952–1953 71 27 44 .380 — — — — None None [52][53]
Bob Feerick Washington Capitols 1949–1950 68 32 36 .471 2 0 2 .000 None None [54][55]
Dave Cowens^ Boston Celtics 1978–1979 68 27 41 .397 — — — — None None [56][57]
Ed Macauley^ St. Louis Hawks 1958–1959 62 43 19 .694 6 2 4 .333 None All-Star Game head coach (1959) [58][59][60]
Jimmy Darden Denver Nuggets[e] 1949–1950 62 51 41 .177 — — — — None None [61][62]
Grady Lewis St. Louis Bombers 1948–1949 60 29 31 .483 2 0 2 .000 None None [63][64]
Curly Armstrong Fort Wayne Pistons 1948–1949 54 22 32 .407 — — — — None None [65][66]
Tom Marshall Cincinnati Royals 1958–1959 54 16 38 .296 — — — — None None [67][68]
Mike Todorovich Tri-Cities Blackhawks 1950–1951 42 14 28 .333 — — — — None None [69][70]
Bobby Leonard Chicago Zephyrs 1962–1963 42 13 29 .310 — — — — None None [71][72]
Dick McGuire^ Detroit Pistons 1959–1960 41 17 24 .415 2 0 2 .000 None None [73][74]
Fred Scolari Baltimore Bullets[d] 1951–1952 39 12 27 .308 — — — — None All-Star (1952) [75][76]
Howie Schultz Anderson Packers[f] 1949–1950 35 21 14 .600 — — — — None None [77][78]
Bones McKinney Washington Capitols 1950–1951 35 10 25 .286 — — — — None None [79][80]
Charley Shipp Waterloo Hawks[g] 1949–1950 35 8 27 .229 — — — — None None [81][82]
Alex Hannum* St. Louis Hawks 1957 31 15 16 .484 12 8 4 .667 None None [21][83]
Kevin Loughery Philadelphia 76ers 1973 31 5 26 .161 — — — — None None [23][84]
Walt Budko Baltimore Bullets[d] 1951 29 10 19 .345 — — — — None None [85][86]
Nat Hickey Providence Steamrollers 1948 29 4 25 .138 — — — — None None [87][88]
Jack Smiley Waterloo Hawks[g] 1950 27 11 16 .407 — — — — None None [89][90]
Red Holzman* Milwaukee Hawks 1954 26 10 16 .385 — — — — None None [22][91]
Bruce Hale Indianapolis Jets 1948 17 4 13 .235 — — — — None None [92][93]
Ed Sadowski Toronto Huskies 1946 12 3 9 .250 — — — — None None [94][95]
Slater Martin^ St. Louis Hawks 1957 8 5 3 .625 — — — — None All-NBA Team (1957)
All-Star (1957)		 [96][97]
Bob Pettit^ St. Louis Hawks 1962 6 4 2 .667 — — — — None All-NBA Team (1962)
All-Star (1962)
All-Star Game MVP (1962)		 [98][99]
Johnny Logan Tri-Cities Blackhawks 1950 3 2 1 .667 — — — — None None [100][101]
Dick Fitzgerald Toronto Huskies 1946 3 2 1 .667 — — — — None None [102][103]
Terry Dischinger Detroit Pistons 1971 2 0 2 .000 — — — — None None [104][105]
Close

Notes

  • 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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