Ranking the Playing Careers of All 30 NBA Coaches

Very few marquee players go on to become NBA head coaches. And of the ones that do, even fewer become respected head coaches. Some, like Jerry Sloan, are able to pull it off. But others, like Isiah Thomas…Well, you can just ask a Knicks fan about that one.

It has often been said that “those who can’t do, teach.” This is definitely true for many NBA coaches, most of which never made it to the Association as a player. Of the 30 head coaches in the league right now, just 12 played in the NBA, and just three of them were All-Stars. All of them played at least some college basketball, and 17 have some other kind experience playing pro basketball abroad.

That’s not to say that they weren’t talented players in their day, it just means that many weren’t the pro-level talent as players that they are as coaches. Here’s a complete ranking of NBA head coaches, based only on their playing careers.

College: UMaine-Farmington 

Professional: N/A

The Hornets’ coach averaged 3.1 points per game at UMaine-Farmington, a D-III school, from 1979-1983. Despite the lack of scoring, he was the team’s captain for his final two seasons.

College: Juniata, Kentucky

Professional: N/A

After playing at Division-III Juniata college for three years, Vogel transferred to Kentucky.  He eventually made his way to a miniscule role on the Wildcats’ coaching staff, which was then helmed by Rick Pitino. It was as a Wildcat that he made his way through the coaching ranks.

College: College of Brockport

Professional: N/A

Van Gundy played at The College at Brockport from 1977-81, where his dad was the head coach. While he played at the Division III school, he set the program record for consecutive free throws made with 53.

College: Salem State 

Professional: N/A

“Thibs” was captain of the Division-III Salem State University basketball team as a senior in 1980-81. He got his start coaching there after graduation, and became the program’s head coach by 1984.

College: ​Concordia, Moorhead State

Professional: N/A

Joerger played Division II ball at Moorhead State, where he graduated in 1997. Upon graduation, the Kings’ head coach got a job as the GM of the Dakota Wizards, a team in the International Basketball Association. Talk about starting from the bottom.

College: DePauw

​Professional: N/A

Stevens started every game during his four years at D-III DePauw University. While he earned several Academic All-America honors, he did not originally plan on having a career in basketball. He took a job after he graduated as a marketing associate at Eli Lilly, a pharmaceutical company. He eventually got a volunteer gig with the Butler basketball program, quit the marketing job, and the rest is history.

College: Appalachian State

Professional: N/A

Gentry was Appalachian State’s point guard for four years during the 70s. He played his first two years under Press Maravich, Pete’s dad. He must have had pretty amazing hops in his day, too; he threw down a dunk at age 60 in 2015.

College: San Diego State

Professional: N/A

The Grizzlies’ head coach played at San Diego State as the school’s point guard from 1993-1996. In his three years there, he averaged 8.5 points and 5.4 assists per game.

College: Loyola 

Professional: N/A

Malone was a point guard at Loyola from 1989-1993. He was about to become a police officer after graduation, until Providence head coach Pete Gillen offered him an assistant coaching job.

College: Air Force

Professional: N/A

This is probably the only list of NBA head coaches where you’ll see Pop towards the bottom. He started for four years at the Air Force Academy in the 1960s, and became an intelligence officer in the Air Force after graduation.

As an intelligence officer, he played on the U.S. Armed Forces amateur team that toured Eastern Europe throughout the 1970s. After his tenure as an active duty officer was over, he spent the first six years of his coaching career as an assistant at Air Force.

College: Kentucky

Professional: N/A

Casey was just the fifth black player to play for Kentucky when he suited up as a freshman in 1975. Despite being a bench player, he was the Wildcats’ captain when they won the national title in 1978.

College: Pomona 

Professional: Velje Basketball Klub, Denmark 

Atlanta’s head coach went all the way to Denmark to play pro basketball for one season in 1993. In Denmark, he averaged 27.5 points per game as a player and coached two youth teams simultaneously. The latter proved to be the most important, as he was eventually hired by the Spurs to be an assistant coach in 1996, which is where he spent the next 17 years.

College: Portland

Professional: Germany

Spoelstra was a standout at the University of Portland, where he still ranks top 10 in program history for threes and assists. After school, he went to Germany to be a player-coach on a B-level professional team while coaching that team’s youth program.

Spoelstra was on the fence about staying in Germany when his contract for his team was up. He had another two-year offer from the German team on the table, and another one from the Heat to be a low-level assistant. Although there was no guarantee that the Heat job would last past the summer, he took his talents to South Beach.

College: Oklahoma

Professional: 10 years in various pro leagues across the U.S. and Europe

Stotts was drafted in the second round by the Rockets in 1980. Although he never played in the NBA, the Blazers’ head coach played a decade in several other pro leagues in America and Europe.

College: Duke

Professional: N/A

Snyder reached three Final Fours during his four seasons at Duke from 1985-1989, and spent six years as an assistant under Mike Krzyzewski from 1993-1999.

College: Richmond

Professional: 14 years in various pro leagues across the U.S. and Europe

After carrying Richmond to a Sweet 16 run in 1988, the Nets’ head coach had a 14-year career in foreign leagues. This includes one season for the Demon Astronauts, a Dutch team with a profoundly amazing name. The NBA should really consider that one for its next expansion team.

College: Providence

Professional: Knicks

Donovan played 44 games for the Knicks during the 1987-88 season, averaging 2.4 points per game. But he's famous for helping lead Providence, under the guidance of coach Rick Pitino, on an unexpected run to the Final Four in 1987 as a lightly regarded No. 6 seed. 

College: Maine, Virginia

Professional: Celtics, Knicks, Nets

Carlisle is one of just 11 people to win an NBA title as a player and as a head coach. He won the title in 1986 as a player with the Celtics, and as a head coach in 2011 with the Mavericks. Carlisle played five seasons in the NBA from 1984-1989 and while he could someday be a Hall of Famer for his head coaching prowess, his 2.2 career points per game average probably won’t get him in as a player.

College: Marshall

Professional:  ​Kansas City Kings, Spirits of St. Louis, Spurs, Olimpia Milano, Italy

Following a three-year stint in the ABA, D’Antoni played pro in Italy for Olimpia Milano from 1977-1990. It was here that and ended up becoming one of the greatest players in Italian league history. D’Antoni is Olimpia Milano’s all-time leader in points, assists, and steals, and he recently had his No. 8 jersey retired by the team. Probably one of the best non-NBA basketball careers for any American-born player.

College: TCU, San Joaquin Delta, UC Irvine

Professional: Rockets, Timberwolves, Mavericks, Sixers, Cavaliers, Knicks

Washington’s head coach spent 10 seasons in the NBA as a bench player, and was a part of the 1994 Rockets’ championship team.

College: Arizona

Professional: Lakers, Cavaliers

Bill’s son was best known for riding the bench during the Lakers’ 2009 and 2010 championship teams. He played a total of 564 games in the NBA from 2003-2013, spending much of it on the bench—where he permanently resides now. Within just two years of his last NBA game as a player, he was able to find success as the Warriors’ interim head coach. He’s now the head coach of his old team, the Lakers.

College: Iowa State

Professional: Pacers, Bulls, Timberwolves

The Bulls have missed the playoffs just seven times over the last 17 years. Hoiberg has been on five of those non-playoff teams. During his decade in the NBA with the Pacers, Bulls, and Timberwolves from 1995-2005, "The Mayor" spent the most time with Chicago, where he played from 1999-2003. He failed to make the playoffs during any of his seasons playing with the Bulls.

This is hard to blame on him since he was just a bench player during the disastrous post-Jordan era for the Bulls—an era that featured then face-of-the-franchise Ron Artest drinking Hennessy in the locker room at halftime. But he failed to make the playoffs during his first season as head coach last year, and is just barely holding onto a playoff spot this year.

College: Nebraska

Professional: Hawks, Wizards, Magic Lakers, Bucks, Rockets, Mavericks 

The only thing you probably remember about Lue’s playing career is Allen Iverson stepping over him. Despite this sour memory, Lue had an eleven-year career in the NBA, and was a decent role player for seven different teams.

College: UCLA

Professional: Sonics, Grizzlies, Nuggets, Thunder, Pacers, Jazz, Blazers

Watson is another guy who had a short evolution from player to coach. After his 14-year career in the NBA ended in 2014, he rose through the ranks quickly to become the Suns’ interim head coach when Jeff Hornacek got fired last year. Watson has since removed the interim label and continues to head up the Suns.

College: Chowan/NC State

Professional: Sonics

McMillan became one of the most beloved players in Seattle Supersonics history during his 12 years playing there. He was a prolific passer, averaging 6.3 career assists per game, and a lockdown defender as well. His 3.0 steals per game in the 1993-94 season was the best mark in the entire NBA. He stayed with the team after he retired to become an assistant head coach. He became the head coach in 2000, a role he kept until 2005.

He went on coached in Portland for eight seasons, before becoming the Pacers’ head coach this year. But even though he’s in different colors now, he’ll always be a Sonic in the eyes of many teamless Seattle fans.

College: Marquette

Professional: Hawks, Spurs, Knicks, Clippers

Rivers is one of just three current NBA head coaches to make an All-Star team, which he did in 1988. He spent 13 seasons in the Association, but is best known for his eight years as the Hawks’ starting point guard from 1984-1991. While with Atlanta, Rivers averaged 13 points, 6.8 assists and 2.1 steals per game making him one of the better point guards of his day.

College: Arizona

Professional: Bulls, Spurs, Cavaliers, Blazers, Magic, Suns

Kerr has more rings than any other coach right now if you combine the rings he won playing with the one he won as the Warriors’ head coach in 2015. He won five as a player, three with the Bulls during their second three-peat and two with the Spurs in 1999 and 2003. His most iconic moment, arguably as a player or a coach, was his shot in the final seconds of Game 6 of the 1997 NBA Finals to put the clinching game on ice for the Bulls.

College: Iowa State

Professional: Suns, Sixers, Jazz

Hornacek played 15 years in the NBA with the Suns, Sixers, and Jazz, and was a pivotal part of just about every team he played for. He made an All-Star team in 1992 with the Suns, and is perhaps best remembered for being the third wheel of the Karl Malone-John Stockton teams that dominated the Western Conference in the late-90s.

His career .496 clip from the field and .403 clip from beyond the arc are testaments to how great of a shooter he was—Hornacek is one of just 40 players in NBA history with a 3-point shooting percentage above .400.

College: Cal

Professional: Mavericks, Suns, Nets, Knicks

There’s only one guy on this list who will end up in the Hall of Fame for his playing prowess, and it’s no surprise that it’s Bucks head coach Jason Kidd.

Kidd played 20 years in the NBA, as the 10-time All-Star became the most prolific point guard of his day. He was the best player on both Nets Eastern Conference championship teams (yeah, they actually used to be good) in 2002 and 2003 and was the starting point guard for the Mavericks’ 2011 championship team. He’s also one of just three players in NBA history to log more than 100 triple-doubles.

So far, Kidd’s coaching career has failed to garner the same success that his playing career did. His one-year tenure as Nets head coach ended in turmoil, ultimately leading to his trade to Milwaukee in 2014. Since then, he has yet to post a winning season. But with a roster that includes Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker, he has ample firepower to match that success. And if the team needs a point guard.. Well, then maybe it’s time for player-coaches to make a comeback.