It's hard to think of a more delicate position than NBA head coach, who wins at the whims of his players. More than half the job is juggling the epic egos; less than half is actual X and O blackboard or whiteboard gameplan. Unless you have an untarnished rep and respect around the league - a few Larry O'Brien Trophies would help - the best players on your team can have you booted at the first sign of serious losing. Here are the top-ten highest paid coaches in the NBA.
10. Dwayne Casey, Detroit Pistons - $6 million
Detroit is a team in transition, if not turmoil. They jettisoned their two best-known players: fan favorite Andre Drummond, who found new life with the Lakers; and Blake Griffin, who supposedly couldn't dunk anymore, then once traded to Brooklyn he returned to his role as a dunk machine. Indeed, Casey will earn his keep if he can make lemonade out of this group, led by Jerami Grant, Delon Wright, and Mason Plumlee. With those three as your best players it's not shocking that Detroit's record is a woeful 16-36, 20 games behind the Nets and good for last in the Eastern Conference.
9. Billy Donovan, Chicago Bulls - $6 million
Donovan won 61% of his games in five years with OKC as Scott Brooks' replacement. He also did it sans Harden and Durant, both of whom left for more money and more wins. And all relationships, no matter how good, seem to crumble over time. Hence Donovan fled for Chicago, where he finds an equal dearth of dominant players on his roster. His best player is 25 year old Zach LaVine, who, along with Aaron Gordon, have been the slam-dunk stars of the league, though not necessarily playoff mainstays. Gordon is having a fine season - averaging 27.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.9 assists - but is not likely to be the main piece on a title contender. But Donovan has that coaching lifer gene in him, which he inherited from his coaching mentor, the legendary Rick Pitino, who coached Donovan while he played college ball at Providence. Donovan was also a star coach in college, leading the Florida Gators to two NCAA championships.
8. Tyronn Lue, Los Angeles Clippers - $7M
The Clippers were looking for more of a players coach, especially while recruiting A-List free agents, such as Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. The Clippers have the richest owner in the NBA, former Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer, so money is not really an issue. But winning is, and Doc Rivers was canned because he wasn't doing enough of it, plus his style seems to wear on veteran players after a while, especially if no championship rings come with it. Lue, a former player, has an excellent reputation for being able to relate to the players without being controlled by them. Plus he has an NBA Finals win, from his time with LeBron at Cleveland, part of the impossible comeback, down 3-1, to the Warriors, and winning three straight.
7. Scott Brooks, Washington Wizards - $7 million
Brooks won 62% of his games in seven years coaching the Oklahoma City Thunder, and even reached the NBA Finals in 2012, and lost to the Miami Heat of LeBron and D-Wade. He kept winning after James Harden left. But Brooks was booted in 2015, and replaced by Billy Donovan, who has not gotten them back to the NBA Finals. Durant left, so Brooks is better off with two stars in D.C. in Bradley Beal and his former tornadic guard from OKC, Russell Westbrook, who is back to averaging a triple-double (21.8 PPG / 10.5 RPG / 10.6 APG). Still, Brooks has won just 45% of his games in five seasons coaching the Wizards, and everyone is vulnerable when they lose.
6. Rick Carlisle, Dallas Mavericks - $7 million
Widely respected as a coach's coach. Carlisle doesn't have any agendas or flashy wardrobes or aspirations to do anything except coach basketball. And he does it quite well. He's been on the Mavericks' bench since 2008, and got the franchise a ring during a most unlikely run to the NBA FInals in 2011, when they faced the Miami Heat, who had fast become The Heatles because of their outsized popularity , led by LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh. Few gave them a chance, but behind All-Star Dirk Nowitzki and old wizard Jason Kidd the Mavs made magic to overcome a virtual All-Star team. It was a masterful coaching job, and is perhaps the reason why Carlisle is still the coach 10 years later. He's poised to make another run with Luka Doncic, the 6-foot-7 wunderkind who plays every position on the court and may be the most clutch shooter in the sport. Next to him is fellow freakshow Kristaps Porzingis, The 7-foot-3 forward with the guard's quickness and penchant for 3-pointers. There's enough talent on Dallas - currently 28-22, in sixth place in the Western Conference, good enough for a playoff spot - to contend for the NBA Finals.
5. Nick Nurse, Toronto Raptors - $8 million
Nurse has done a fabulous job for a franchise that few big-ticket free agents put on their list of desired destinations. They have drafted well, and their personnel czar, Masai Ujiri has done a masterful job getting Nurse the right players. Indeed, it was the African born-and-bred Ujiri who poached Kawhi Leonard from the Spurs and watched him carry Canada to its first NBA championship. Leonard left for the Clippers, which is close to his home, and signed a monster deal, but Nurse handled him masterfully during his time in Toronto. It's easier to thrive in major, popular markets, from Los Angeles to Miami to New York to Texas, which has no state income tax. But to win north of the border, where the winters are arctic cold, takes a seasoned touch and steady hand.
4. Steve Kerr, Golden State Warriors - $8 million
Talk about a star-crossed career. Kerr came to Oakland with no head coaching experience, took over a team Mark Jackson had built into a budding power, and won a title. Then his team put on the biggest choke job in NBA Finals history, losing three straight after going up 3-1 on LeBron and the Cavaliers in 2016. Then they got the cheat code, signed Kevin Durant, and won two more titles. Then Durant snapped his Achilles and left for Brooklyn. Then Klay Thompson blew out his knee and missed the last year. All this leaves things largely to Steph Curry to keep the flag from falling. They were an atrocious 15-50 in 2019-'20. Now they are 24-27 and fighting for playoff life. The worst should be over for Kerr and it should only get better after this year of being humbled and hungry.
3. Doc Rivers, Philadelphia 76ers - $8 million
We're so used to his handle we forget his real name is Glenn. He's been such a good coach we forget he was a very good guard who played 14 years in the NBA. Now, in his 22nd year as an NBA coach, he's coached so long you may forget the last time he won a title. (It was in 2008, while coaching the Celtics.) He spent seven conflicted seasons with the Clippers - winning 63% of his games, the highest rate of his career - and suffered some heartbreaking playoff losses. Now he's in Philadelphia, and has the 76ers battling Brooklyn for the top spot in the NBA's Eastern Conference. It was a smart move to boomerang back east, away from the murderous Western Conference, the basketball version of Mortal Kombat. Still, it's been 13 years since he won a title, and the clock ticks for everyone, even old champions.
2. Steve Nash, Brooklyn Nets - $8.7 million
Unlike Popovich, Steve Nash didn't earn his salary on the sideline as a head coach. In fact, he had never coached an NBA club in his life until he was offered the Nets gig. Nash, a two-time NBA MVP as point guard for the Phoenix Suns, may wind up being a great coach. But in this particular case, he backed into a juggernaut. Indeed, in his maiden season he gets to coach Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden. This is about as close as a team can come to becoming a walking cheat code. Nash signed a four-year deal with the Nets in 2020, considered the perfect fit for inflated egos that come with the job. It takes someone with Nash's name and game to get the respect of his players. You can decide how much coaching this team really needs, but the Nets find Nash valuable enough to pay him quite handsomely for it.
1. Gregg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs - $11 million
The universal Yoda of the NBA, no one has more respect among pro coaching circles than Coach Pop. Last year his Spurs missed the playoffs - during a pandemic, no less - for the first time in 23 sublime seasons. He's had his mail forwarded to the playoffs, and he's won five NBA Finals thanks to Tim Duncan, AKA The Big Fundamental, who may go down as the greatest power forward in league history. It also didn't hurt to have David Robinson for their first title, and then future Hall of Famers in their two guards, including Frenchman Tony Parker and Argentinian star Manu Ginobili.
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