The Longest Tenured NBA Coaches

The longest-tenured NBA head coaches are Gregg Popovich Rick Carlisle, and Doc Rivers. All three have been with their current teams for over a decade.

Gregg Popovich

Gregg Popovich is an American professional basketball coach who is currently the Head Coach of the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is widely considered one of the greatest coaches in NBA history Taking over as head coach of the Spurs in 1996, Popovich is the longest-tenured active coach in both the NBA and all major professional sports leagues in North America

Rick Carlisle

Rick Carlisle is an American professional basketball coach who is currently the Head Coach of the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has also served as Head coach of the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons

Carlisle was born in May 1962 in Ogdensburg, New York. He played college basketball at the University of Maine from 1980 to 1984. Upon graduation, he was not selected in the 1984 NBA draft but played professionally in Italy for two years. He began his coaching career in 1988 as an Assistant Coach with the Boston Celtics where he won two NBA championships in three years.

He became head coach of the Pistons in 2001, but was fired after two seasons. He then coached the Pacers for three seasons, leading them to the playoffs each year. In 2007, he joined the Mavericks, where he has coached since then. He has led the Mavericks to nine playoff appearances and one NBA Championship in 2011.

Carlisle is one of only 11 coaches in NBA history to have won an NBA Championship and Coach of the Year honors. He is also one of only four coaches to have coached teams to a first-round playoff sweep on four different occasions (2004 Pacers, 2007 Mavericks, 2011 Mavericks, 2014 Mavericks).

Doc Rivers

Since his debut in 1999, Doc Rivers has become one of the longest tenured and most successful coaches in the NBA. He has coached the Boston Celtics to a championship and led the team to the playoffs nine times. He is also one of only two coaches to have won an Nba Coach of the Year Award with two different teams.

Terry Stotts

Terry Stotts is an American professional basketball coach who is currently the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has also coached the Atlanta Hawks Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers. After a successful career as an assistant coach Stotts was named head coach of the Atlanta Hawks in 2002, becoming one of the youngest coaches in the NBA at that time. He was fired by the Hawks after one season and spent two seasons as an assistant coach with the Milwaukee Bucks before becoming head coach of the 76ers in 2006. Stotts was fired by the 76ers after one season and spent four seasons as an assistant coach with the Portland Trail Blazers before being named Head Coach in 2012.

Stotts has been credited with helping to develop several young players during his time with the Blazers, including Damian Lillard CJ McCollum and Nurkic. He led the Blazers to a 49–33 record in his first season as head coach and was named NBA Coach of the Year. The following season, Stotts led the Blazers to their first playoff appearance since 2016.

Scott Brooks

Scott Brooks is an American professional basketball coach who is currently the head coach of the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has also served as the head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets Prior to his coaching career, Brooks played college basketball for San Joaquin Delta College and Texas Christian University

Born in South Gate, California, Brooks was raised in Seattle, Washington. He played High School basketball for Franklin high school before attending San Joaquin Delta College. After two years at Delta, he transferred to Texas Christian University where he played point guard for the Horned Frogs basketball team Upon graduation, he was not selected in the 1988 NBA Draft and began his professional career playing for various teams in Continental Basketball Association (CBA).

Brooks began his coaching career as a player development assistant for the CBA’s Tulsa Fast Breakers during the 1992–93 season. He later served as an assistant coach for several other NBA teams before being hired as the head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008. In his first season with the team, he won Coach of the Year honors after leading the Thunder to their first playoff appearance since relocating from Seattle in 2008. He coached the Thunder to five consecutive playoff appearances and one NBA Finals appearance before being fired in 2015.

He was hired by the Houston Rockets shortly afterwards and served as their Head Coach for two seasons before being fired in 2017. He was then hired by the Washington Wizards in 2019.

Steve Kerr

Steve Kerr is an American Professional Basketball coach currently serving as the head coach of the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Kerr is a five-Ime Nba champion, winning three with the Chicago Bulls and two with the Warriors. He also coached the Warriors to an NBA-record 73 regular-season wins during the 2015–16 season.

Dwane Casey

Dwane Casey is currently the head coach of the NBA’s Detroit Pistons Prior to his tenure with the Pistons, he was the head coach of the Toronto Raptors from 2011 to 2018. He is the longest serving active NBA head coach having coached in the league for 19 seasons.

Casey began his coaching career in Japan, where he coached for one season before moving to the United States to join Rick Pitino’s staff at Kentucky. He then spent three seasons as an assistant coach with the Seattle SuperSonics before joining George Karl’s staff in Milwaukee. He served as an assistant coach with the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2006 to 2007, and was then hired by the Raptors as their Head Coach in 2011.

Under Casey’s leadership, the Raptors became one of the most successful teams in the NBA, reaching the playoffs in five consecutive seasons from 2014 to 2018. In 2018, he was named Coach of the Year by the National Basketball Coaches Association. He was also named Coach of the Year by The Sporting News in 2020.

Casey was fired by the Raptors after their loss to Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2018 Eastern Conference Semifinals. He was hired by the Pistons shortly thereafter.

Erik Spoelstra

Erik Spoelstra is an American professional basketball coach who is currently the head coach of the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been the head coach of the Heat since April 2008. After Spoelstra became head coach he led the Heat to nine consecutive playoff appearances from 2010 to 2018. In 2012 and 2013, he led them to NBA Championships

Spoelstra was born in Evanston, Illinois. He is of Filipino descent on his father’s side and Irish descent on his mother’s side. His paternal grandfather immigrated to Hawaii in 1906 and changed his surname from “Rambus” to “Spoelstra”, which derives from the Dutch word for “sports”. Spoelstra’s father, Jon, played basketball at Brown University and was later a head high school basketball coach in Seattle.

Spoelstra attended Maryknoll School in Hawaii from 1985 to 1988 before going on to college at the University of Portland where he played point guard for the Pilots Basketball team from 1988 to 1992.

Quin Snyder

Quin Snyder is an American professional Basketball Coach who is currently the head coach of the NBA’s Utah Jazz He has been the Jazz’s head coach since 2014.

Snyder played College Basketball at Duke University from 1983 to 1987. He began his coaching career as an assistant at his alma mater from 1993 to 1997. Snyder then served as an Assistant Coach for several NBA Teams including the Los Angeles Lakers, Atlanta Hawks Philadelphia 76ers and Houston Rockets

In 2014, Snyder was hired as the head coach of the Utah Jazz He led the Jazz to a playoff appearance in his first season as head coach The following season, Snyder was named the NBA coach of the Year after leading the Jazz to a franchise-record 48 wins.

Nate McMillan

Nate McMillan (born in 1962) is an American basketball coach who is currently the head coach of the Indiana Pacers He has also been the head coach of the Seattle SuperSonics and Portland Trail Blazers He is one of only four current NBA coaches with more than 1,000 games coached for a single franchise.

McMillan began his coaching career as an assistant coach for the Supersonics in 1991. He was promoted to head coach in 2000, and led the team to six playoff appearances in his eight seasons as head coach In 2005, he was named NBA Coach of the Year. He was hired by the Trail Blazers in 2005, and led the team to four playoff appearances in his seven seasons as head coach

In 2012, McMillan was hired by the Pacers, and he has led the team to four playoff appearances in his five seasons as head coach