player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

is a member of team who simultaneously holds both playing and

coaching Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...

duties. The term can be used to refer to both players who serve as

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

es or as assistant coaches. In the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA), there have been 40 players who also served as their teams'

head coaches A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

at the same time. The NBA was founded in 1946 as the

Basketball Association of America The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA merged with the National Basketball League (United States), National Basketball Lea ...

(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 In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Seve ...

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 Harry Edward "Buddy" Jeannette (September 15, 1917 – March 11, 1998) was an American professional basketball player and coach. Biography Jeannette was widely regarded as the premier backcourt player between 1938 and 1948. He was named to ...

was the first player-coach to win the

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

; he won the

1948 BAA Finals The 1948 BAA Finals was the championship round of the Basketball Association of America's 1947–48 season. The Philadelphia Warriors of the Eastern Division faced the Baltimore Bullets of the Western Division, with Philadelphia having home c ...

with the Baltimore Bullets.

Bill Russell William Felton Russell (February 12, 1934 – July 31, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who played Center (basketball), center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. He was t ...

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 The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

' head coaching duties from

Red Auerbach Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach (September 20, 1917 – October 28, 2006) was an American professional basketball coach and executive. As a head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he led the Boston Celtics to an unprecedented champio ...

, becoming the first

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

head coach in the league. He served as the Celtics' player-coach for three seasons, winning two consecutive NBA championships in

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

and 1969.

Dave DeBusschere David Albert DeBusschere (October 16, 1940 – May 14, 2003) was an American professional basketball player and coach, and professional baseball player. He played for the Chicago White Sox of MLB in 1962 and 1963 and in the NBA for the Detroit Pi ...

became the youngest head coach in the league's history when he was appointed as the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

' 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 Leonard Randolph Wilkens (born October 28, 1937) is an American former professional basketball player and coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been inducted three times into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, fi ...

, 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 The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (N ...

' player-coach. He is the only player-coach (along with Russell) who has been inducted to the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...

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 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

. 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 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

Alex Hannum Alexander Murray Hannum (July 19, 1923 – January 18, 2002) was an American professional basketball player and coach. As a player, Hannum played for six different teams, most notably with the Milwaukee (later St. Louis) Hawks, where he played ...

Red Holzman William "Red" Holzman (August 10, 1920 – November 13, 1998) was an American professional basketball player and coach. He is best known as the head coach of the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1967 to ...

and

Kevin Loughery Kevin Michael "Murph" Loughery (born March 28, 1940) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. Loughery coached both Julius Erving and Michael Jordan, and gave Phil Jackson his first NBA coaching job. Early life Loughe ...

, 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 The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

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 The 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, also referred to as NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team, were chosen in 1996 to honor the 50th anniversary of the founding of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It was the third anniversary team ...

announced at the league's 50th anniversary in 1996. Wilkens, along with

Bob Cousy Robert Joseph Cousy ( , born August 9, 1928) is an American former professional basketball player. He played point guard for the Boston Celtics from 1950 to 1963, and briefly with the Cincinnati Royals during the 1969–70 season. A 13-time NBA ...

, Dave Cowens, Dave DeBusschere,

Bob Pettit Robert E. Lee Pettit Jr. ( ; born December 12, 1932) is an American former professional basketball player. He played 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association, NBA, all with the Atlanta Hawks, Milwaukee/St. Louis Hawks (1954–1965). In ...

, Bill Russell and Dolph Schayes, were named to the list of the

50 Greatest Players in NBA History The 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, also referred to as NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team, were chosen in 1996 to honor the 50th anniversary of the founding of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It was the third anniversary team ...

, which was also announced at the league's 50th anniversary.

Key

Player-coaches

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 The National Basketball Association All-Star Game is the annual all-star game hosted each February by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and showcases 24 of the league's All-star, star players. Since 2022, it was held on the third Sunday of ...

in that year. * The original Baltimore Bullets, who folded in 1954, are not affiliated with the present-day

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

, 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 The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

, who were founded in 1967 as a member of

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

(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 The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

, who were also known as the Milwaukee / St. Louis Hawks from 1951 to 1968.

Key

Player-coaches

Notes

References

See also