A player-coach is a member of team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. 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). The league adopted its current name at the start of the when it merged with the National Basketball League (NBL). After the salary cap was instituted in , the NBA has prohibited teams from employing a player-coach. 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.

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. Buddy Jeannette was the first player-coach to win the championship; he won the 1948 BAA Finals with the Baltimore Bullets. 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 , he took over the Boston Celtics' head coaching duties from Red Auerbach, becoming the first African American head coach in the league. He served as the Celtics' player-coach for three seasons, winning two consecutive NBA championships in 1968 and 1969. 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 . He held the position for three seasons before returning to a full-time player in . Dave Cowens is the last player-coach in the league. He coached the Celtics in the before relinquishing his coaching duty to focus on his playing career.

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 to and from to . Before the , 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Loughery served as the head coach for six NBA teams during his 18-year coaching career, including a year as a player-coach. Wilkens and Holzman were named among the Top 10 Coaches in NBA History announced at the league's 50th anniversary in 1996. 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.

Key YrsNumber of years coachedGGames coachedWWinsLLossesWin%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 Player-coach Team(s) played and coached Years G W L Win% G W L Win% Championship(s) won Honor(s) and award(s) won Ref(s). Regular season Playoffs ^ St. Louis HawksAtlanta Hawks –– 372 199 173 .535 43 21 22 .488 None All-Star Game head coach (1969, 1970) ^* Seattle SuperSonicsPortland Trail Blazers – 328 159 169 .485 — — — — None All-Star (1969, 1971)All-Star Game MVP (1971) Syracuse Nationals – 279 155 124 .556 20 9 11 .450 None None ^ Syracuse Nationals – 267 170 90 .637 27 13 14 .481 None All-NBA Team ()All-Star Game head coach (1952) ^* Boston Celtics – 245 162 83 .661 46 28 16 .609 2 (1968, 1969) All-NBA Team (, )All-Defensive Team ()All-Star (1967, 1968, 1969) ^ Detroit Pistons – 222 79 143 .356 — — — — None All-Star (1966, 1967) ^ Baltimore Bullets – 176 82 94 .466 15 10 5 .667 1 (1948) All-BAA Team () ^ Rochester Royals – 144 62 82 .431 — — — — None All-Star (1956)All-Star Game head coach (1957) New York Knicks – 127 40 87 .315 — — — — None None San Francisco Warriors – 112 49 63 .438 5 1 4 .200 None None ^ Cincinnati Royals 82 36 46 .439 — — — — None None ^ Philadelphia 76ers 80 34 46 .425 5 2 3 .400 None None Milwaukee Hawks 71 27 44 .380 — — — — None None Washington Capitols 68 32 36 .471 2 0 2 .000 None None ^ Boston Celtics 68 27 41 .397 — — — — None None ^ St. Louis Hawks 62 43 19 .694 6 2 4 .333 None All-Star Game head coach (1959) Denver Nuggets 62 51 41 .177 — — — — None None St. Louis Bombers 60 29 31 .483 2 0 2 .000 None None Fort Wayne Pistons 54 22 32 .407 — — — — None None Cincinnati Royals 54 16 38 .296 — — — — None None Tri-Cities Blackhawks 42 14 28 .333 — — — — None None Chicago Zephyrs 42 13 29 .310 — — — — None None ^ Detroit Pistons 41 17 24 .415 2 0 2 .000 None None Baltimore Bullets 39 12 27 .308 — — — — None All-Star (1952) Anderson Packers 35 21 14 .600 — — — — None None Washington Capitols 35 10 25 .286 — — — — None None Waterloo Hawks 35 8 27 .229 — — — — None None * St. Louis Hawks 31 15 16 .484 12 8 4 .667 None None Philadelphia 76ers 31 5 26 .161 — — — — None None Baltimore Bullets 29 10 19 .345 — — — — None None Providence Steamrollers 29 4 25 .138 — — — — None None Waterloo Hawks 27 11 16 .407 — — — — None None * Milwaukee Hawks 26 10 16 .385 — — — — None None Indianapolis Jets 17 4 13 .235 — — — — None None Toronto Huskies 12 3 9 .250 — — — — None None ^ St. Louis Hawks 8 5 3 .625 — — — — None All-NBA Team ()All-Star (1957) ^ St. Louis Hawks 6 4 2 .667 — — — — None All-NBA Team ()All-Star (1962)All-Star Game MVP (1962) Tri-Cities Blackhawks 3 2 1 .667 — — — — None None Toronto Huskies 3 2 1 .667 — — — — None None Detroit Pistons 2 0 2 .000 — — — — None None

Notes

Each year is linked to an article about that particular BAA / NBA season. Each year is linked to an article about the BAA / NBA Finals in that year. Each year is linked to an article about that particular BAA / NBA season or the NBA All-Star Game in that year. The original Baltimore Bullets, who folded in 1954, are not affiliated with the present-day Washington Wizards, who were known as the Baltimore / Capital / Washington Bullets from 1963 to 1997. The original Denver Nuggets, who folded in 1950, are not affiliated with the present-day Denver Nuggets, who were founded in 1967 as a member of American Basketball Association (ABA). The Anderson Packers, who folded in 1950, are not affiliated with the present-day Washington Wizards, who were known as the Chicago Packers from 1961 to 1962. The Waterloo Hawks, who folded in 1950, are not affiliated with the present-day Atlanta Hawks, who were also known as the Milwaukee / St. Louis Hawks from 1951 to 1968.

References

See also List of National Basketball Association players List of National Basketball Association head coaches with 400 games coached