Longest-Tenured NBA Head Coaches

Although the NBA’s head coaching carousel continued to turn during the 2018/19 season and 2019 offseason, most of the league’s longest-tenured head coaches remained in no danger of losing their jobs.

Of the seven head coaches who have been replaced since we listed the NBA’s longest-tenured coaches last July, none had held their position since before June 2015. Fred Hoiberg (12th) and Tyronn Lue (14th) at least ranked in the top half of last year’s longest-tenured list, but none of the other five displaced coaches had more than three years on the job. Igor Kokoskov got just one year in Phoenix before being dismissed.

The names atop the list of longest-tenured coaches may be unchanged, but given the turnover in the head coaching ranks, it’s time we update our list.

Here’s the current breakdown of the NBA’s longest-tenured head coaches by team, sorted by the date they were hired:

  1. Gregg Popovich, Spurs: December 1996
  2. Erik Spoelstra, Heat: April 2008
  3. Rick Carlisle, Mavericks: May 2008
  4. Terry Stotts, Trail Blazers: August 2012
  5. Doc Rivers, Clippers: June 2013
  6. Brad Stevens, Celtics: July 2013
  7. Brett Brown, Sixers: August 2013
  8. Steve Kerr, Warriors: May 2014
  9. Quin Snyder, Jazz: June 2014
  10. Billy Donovan, Thunder: April 2015
  11. Alvin Gentry, Pelicans: May 2015 (remained Warriors assistant through playoffs)
  12. Michael Malone, Nuggets: June 2015
  13. Kenny Atkinson, Nets: April 2016 (remained Hawks assistant through Atlanta’s playoff run)
  14. Scott Brooks, Wizards: April 2016
  15. Nate McMillan, Pacers: May 2016
  16. Mike D’Antoni, Rockets: June 2016
  17. David Fizdale, Knicks: May 7, 2018
  18. James Borrego, Hornets: May 10, 2018
  19. Lloyd Pierce, Hawks: May 11, 2018
  20. Mike Budenholzer, Bucks: May 17, 2018
  21. Steve Clifford, Magic: May 30, 2018
  22. Dwane Casey, Pistons: June 11, 2018
  23. Nick Nurse, Raptors: June 14, 2018
  24. Jim Boylen, Bulls: December 2018
  25. Ryan Saunders, Timberwolves: January 2019
  26. Luke Walton, Kings: April 2019
  27. Monty Williams, Suns: May 3, 2019 (remained Sixers assistant through Philadelphia’s playoff run)
  28. John Beilein, Cavaliers: May 13, 2019
  29. Frank Vogel, Lakers: May 13, 2019
  30. Taylor Jenkins, Grizzlies: June 2019

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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