NBA Coaches Rankings via ESPN

[Alexander The Great]

Our front-office rankings continue with a look at the NBA's 30 current head coaches -- the league's on-court decision-makers.

We asked our ESPN Forecast panel to rate every team's coach. In particular, we asked the voters to rate each coach on his guidance and leadership in terms of how it affects overall on-court success, both in the short and long term.

(On Tuesday, we unveiled our overall front-office rankings. On Wednesday, we broke down ourrankings of team presidents and GMs. On Friday, we'll reveal our owner rankings.)

Here's how the 30 coaches rank, according to our panel:

Coach rankings


Rank Team Rating
1

San Antonio Spurs
Gregg Popovich 9.70
2

Atlanta Hawks
Mike Budenholzer 8.78
3

Golden State Warriors
Steve Kerr 8.39
4

Dallas Mavericks
Rick Carlisle 8.22
5

Chicago Bulls
Tom Thibodeau 7.87
6

Miami Heat
Erik Spoelstra 7.48
7

Portland Trail Blazers
Terry Stotts 7.17
8

Los Angeles Clippers
Doc Rivers 7.13
9
(tie)

Boston Celtics
Brad Stevens 7.04
9
(tie)

Indiana Pacers
Frank Vogel 7.04
11

Memphis Grizzlies
Dave Joerger 7.00
12

Milwaukee Bucks
Jason Kidd 6.78
13

Toronto Raptors
Dwane Casey 6.74
14

Houston Rockets
Kevin McHale 6.39
15

Phoenix Suns
Jeff Hornacek 6.35
16

Sacramento Kings
George Karl 6.22
17

Detroit Pistons
Stan Van Gundy 6.17
18

Utah Jazz
Quin Snyder 6.00
19

Cleveland Cavaliers
David Blatt 5.83

 

[FAH1223]

Dave Joerger should be higher on that list

 

[Alexander The Great]

20

Oklahoma City Thunder
Scott Brooks 5.52
21

Charlotte Hornets
Steve Clifford 5.35
22

Philadelphia 76ers
Brett Brown 5.26
23

Brooklyn Nets
Lionel Hollins 4.91
24

New Orleans Pelicans
Monty Williams 4.78
25

Minnesota Timberwolves
Flip Saunders 4.65
26

Washington Wizards
Randy Wittman 4.26
27

Orlando Magic
James Borrego (interim) 4.22
28

Denver Nuggets
Melvin Hunt (interim) 4.17
29

Los Angeles Lakers
Byron Scott 3.04
30

New York Knicks
Derek Fisher 2.91

 

[trick]

Casey is way too high

 

[Alexander The Great]

these guys really think highly of Spoelstra

 

[Malta]

these guys really think highly of Spoelstra

What, you not a fan of your center having 15pts, 12rebs, 4blks and only playing 22mpg in a loss?

 

[Alexander The Great]

What, you not a fan of your center having 15pts, 12rebs, 4blks and only playing 22mpg in a loss?

laugh at my pain

 

[FukkaPaidEmail]

Refuse to believe there are 16 better coaches than Stan van gundy

 

[Hoganese]

Jason Kidd is quietly building up his reputation as a good coach. Should be higher imo. Dwayne Casey is too high, he'd have been fired if Kyle Lowry hadn't looked like a superstar for a few months.

 

[Type Username Here]

Spo is about 15 places too high

 

[Rev]

ESPN's NBA writers must have exhausted every other possible story because the lists shyt is ridiculous over the past week.

 

[SoulController]

Brett Brown can coach, look who he has to work with. will be much higher this time next year

 

[Trojan 24]

At Doc being 8

 

[Trojan 24]

ESPN's NBA writers must have exhausted every other possible story because the lists shyt is ridiculous over the past week.

I wonder what list is next

Hopefully it's the top 10 Most Handsome

I got Chandsome and Hayword as my front runners

 

[Dominique Wilkins]

Bud