1) Phil Jackson

A sharp intellect and unselfish play were two skills of Jackson as a player that persevered into his coaching career, but he was also a phenomenal pure athlete. So much so that the Knicks drafted him #17 overall even though he had played at Division II North Dakota. Jackson had spent his entire life up to that point in rural Montana and North Dakota, with an upbringing that sounded like it was the inspiration for the movie Footloose (his parents were both ministers who banned their children from things like dancing and TV), but was a surprisingly natural fit amongst the other eccentric intellectuals in New York. A solid performer off the bench at power forward in New York’s golden age from 1967 to 1974, Jackson was renowned for his defensive intensity and leadership. He was also a fan favorite for his outgrown hair, full beard, and carefree style. Inspired by the legendary Bill Fitch, who was his coach in both high school and college, Jackson transitioned immediately into coaching after retiring as a player in 1980. His initial gigs were in the CBA and Puerto Rican league before finally landing a job as Doug Collins’ Bulls assistant in 1987. Jackson took over as head coach in 1989 and ultimately led the Bulls to six championships, then the Lakers to five.

2) Steve Kerr

When your playing career includes stints under coaches Lenny Wilkens, Phil Jackson, and Gregg Popovich, you’re bound to pick up a lesson or two. Kerr synthesized the schemes and styles of Popovich and Jackson into his own steady but demanding coaching approach. Just as it did under his mentors, this led to multiple championships. Kerr won five titles as a player, three with Jackson’s Bulls and two with Popovich’s Spurs, then four more himself as coach of the Warriors. As player, Kerr profiled as a predecessor of his own biggest star Stephen Curry, albeit in a limited capacity. He was a sharp shooter and a deadly accurate one, leading the NBA in three-point field goal percentage twice and winning the 1997 Three-Point Shootout. Kerr’s overall mark of 45.4% shooting from three is still the NBA career record. Granted, he only attempted 1,599 total three-pointers, a total that Curry had passed in his fifth season. Kerr was no star player, averaging just 6.0 points per game for his career, but he was a proven winner and clutch performer, most notably his series clinching shot in the 1997 NBA Finals. After retiring in 2003 (as a champion, natch), Kerr served as a general manager of the Suns and a broadcaster for TNT before taking the Warriors job in 2014.

3) Red Holzman

Unless you’re some kind of NBA history obsessive (guilty as charged), you’re likely unaware that Holzman even played. His career came in the early days of the league, spending five seasons with the Rochester Royals and one with the Milwaukee Hawks. Prior to that, Holzman had made a name for himself at CCNY and with the Royals in their NBL days, and he was already 28 years old when Rochester merged into the NBA. As a bench guard, Holzman averaged a respectable 8.2 points per game in his first three NBA seasons and was a key part of Rochester’s 1951 title run. His first foray into coaching came as player-coach of the Hawks in ’53-’54 but it was short lived, as Holzman retired as a player and stepped away as a coach in 1954 to join the Knicks as a scout. Even in comparison to his coaching career, Holzman’s time as a scout for New York was impressive, as he’s credited with convincing the front office to draft Willis Reed and Walt Frazier. Holzman then took over as New York’s coach during the ’67-’68 season. Bringing a sense of community and autonomy to the roster, Holzman secured his spot as easily the greatest coach in franchise history, compiling 613 wins over two separate stints as coach. He was inducted into the Nismith Hall of Fame as a coach in 1985.

4) George Karl

Lacking elite athletic skills but sporting a solid basketball IQ and willing to do dirty work, Karl was the right man for the job in the ABA. Over three ABA seasons with the Spurs, he averaged just 7.0 points and 3.2 assists per game but was considered one of the league’s most reliable bench options. When the Spurs merged into the NBA, Karl struggled to maintain speed with the leveled up play and retired after two seasons to take an assistant coach gig with the franchise. His first head coaching job came with the Montana Golden Nuggets of the CBA in 1980, followed by a chance with the Cavaliers in ’84-’85. Setting a motif for the remainder of his career, Karl immediately dragged an underachieving Cavs team to a surprise playoff appearance but soon after lost control of the locker room due to his totalitarian style and propensity for finger pointing when things went wrong. Despite his lack of bedside manner, Karl had later successful coaching stints with the Warriors, SuperSonics (whom he led to the 1996 NBA Finals), Bucks, and Nuggets, eventually becoming just the seventh coach in NBA history to compile over 1,000 career wins. For the record, Karl is one of just two coaches on this list who never won an NCAA, ABA, or NBA title as a player.

5) Rick Carlisle

His NBA career lasted just five seasons, with career averages of 2.2 points and 1.1 assists per game, but Carlisle does have a playing claim to fame. He logged one full season and 10 playoff games for the ’85-’86 Celtics, league champions and unquestionably one of the greatest teams in modern history. He even got to start one game that season, an April affair against the Bucks when coach K.C. Jones sat his starters to rest for the postseason. To even get there, the third round pick Carlisle had to beat out first round pick Michael Young and second round pick Ronnie Williams for a spot on the Celtics roster. According to his longtime friend Larry Bird, this happened due to Carlisle’s dedication and insight, traits that would color his coaching career, which started with the Nets as an assistant in 1989, and peaked with the Mavericks, winning the NBA title in 2011. In between, Carlisle worked twice for Bird, first as an assistant from 1997 to 2000 when Bird was head coach of the Pacers, then as Indiana’s head coach from 2003 to 2007 when Bird took over as President of Basketball Operations (during the interim, Carlisle had a tumultuous stint as coach of the Pistons). Along with Phil Jackson, Pat Riley, and Red Holzman, Carlisle is one of just 10 people to win NBA championships as a player and as a head coach.

---

---

6) Alex Hannum

Even when he was just a player, Hannum received the eminent nickname “Sarge” from teammates due to his military background and intense leadership. Perhaps that’s why he lasted eight seasons in the NBA and was given a chance by five different teams despite averaging 6.0 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. His first coaching job was an eventful one, taking over as player-coach of the Hawks in 1957 after Red Holzman was fired. The season ended with Hannum leading the Hawks to the first and only title in franchise history, defeating Bill Russell and the Celtics in the NBA Finals. In fact, Hannum is the only person who can stake their claim as coach of a team that defeated Russell’s Celtics in a playoff series. He was also coach of the ’66-’67 76ers who eliminated Boston in the Conference Finals then went on to win the championship, Hannum’s second. Hannum played just six total minutes in that 1957 Hawks playoff run and figured it was time to just move into coaching full time. In addition to his two NBA titles, Hannum is additionally the only coach to win titles in both the NBA and ABA, accomplishing the latter with the Oakland Oaks in 1969. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1998 but Hannum’s biggest accolade might be that Wilt Chamberlain once called him his all-time greatest coach.

7) Pat Riley

In an alternative universe, Riley is a Tom Landry figure, a decent football player who became an NFL coaching legend. He was drafted by both the Houston Rockets and the Dallas Cowboys in 1967 (coached at the time by Landry) and opted for basketball. Over five decades later, Riley is considered one of the greatest NBA coaches of all time and is still a force of nature in the sport. His playing days pale in comparison but certainly weren’t terrible. Riley spent nine seasons with the Rockets, Lakers, and Suns, averaging 7.4 points per game. He was mostly deployed off the bench as a versatile wing and developed a taste for championships. Riley was a role player on the ’71-’72 Lakers who won 33 straight games and the NBA Finals. He picked up some coaching tips from Bill Sharman, who would eventually become his co-worker on the Lakers for a brief period. Following a 1976 knee surgery, Riley retired as a player and one year later took a job as a Lakers broadcaster, alongside Chick Hearn. Paul Westhead brought in Riley as an assistant when he became Lakers coach in 1979, and Riley then took the reins when Westhead was fired two years later. He led the “Showtime” Lakers to seven NBA Finals appearances and four titles, then added one more championship in 2006 with the Heat.

8) Rick Adelman

Adelman’s coaching career is undoubtedly more successful than his playing one but don’t tell that to Loyola Marymount University. A sly and plucky point guard, Adelman was one of the greatest players in LMU history and still ranks top 10 in program history in career scoring. A seventh round pick of the Rockets, Adelman spent seven seasons in the NBA, spread across five different times. His most successful stint was with the Trail Blazers, who selected him in their 1970 expansion draft. Adelman averaged 11.4 points and 4.9 assists per game in his two seasons in Portland but injuries were a factor and his career ended in 1975, when the Kansas City Kings cut him. Adelman retired in 1975 and returned to the Pacific Northwest to take a head coaching job for a community college in Oregon. Dr. Jack Ramsay eventually brought Adelman onto his Blazers staff in 1983 and late in the ’88-’89 season, he got his chance in the top spot. Bringing a measured, cerebral, and detail-oriented approach, Adelman guided Portland to NBA Finals appearances in 1990 and 1992. This was just the start of a career eventually spanning a quarter century, with Adelman gaining a reputation as an all-time offensive savant in stops with the Warriors, Timberwolves, Kings, and Rockets.

9) Larry Brown

It’s only appropriate for Brown, a coach with a career-long reputation for frequent and abrupt position changes, that his playing career took place in the capricious ABA. Listed at just 5’9″ (and likely even shorter), his NBA prospects were dim coming out of Dean Smith’s North Carolina program in 1963 and Brown spent several years playing semi-pro ball before the ABA revived his career. Despite playing in five different cities (New Orleans, Oakland, Washington, Roanoke, and Denver) over five seasons due to re-locations and trades, Brown was a steady force in the early days of the upstart league, leading the ABA in assists per game three times and making three All-Star appearances. The physical toll was too much however and Brown retired as a player in 1972 to take up his real calling as a coach. His first two gigs were in the ABA, helping the Carolina Cougars and Denver Nuggets make immediate turnarounds. It became a familiar timbre for Brown’s career: blow into town, immediately improve the team by preaching defensive intensity and offensive intelligence, then leave just as quickly for the next challenge. Along the way Brown placed himself eighth on the all-time NBA coaching wins list and was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame.