Recently, John Schuhmann of NBA.com tweeted about how more than half of the head coaches around the NBA have been with their current team for at least three seasons, pointing out that this is “a relatively stable landscape” for coaches.
This led HoopsHype to research how the stability of today’s coaches compares to their counterparts throughout NBA history. We compiled the average number of games that coaches had spent with the same team at the start of each season and we found something interesting: The numbers suggest that NBA head coaching jobs have never been more stable.
Entering the 2019-20 season, the average head coach has been with the same team for 303.5 games, which is nearly four seasons.
Believe it or not, that 303.5 average is the highest at the start of a season in NBA history. The second-best average was 301.3 games, which was 65 years ago at the beginning of the 1954-55 season.
To understand just how high this 303.5 average is compared to most years, consider this: At the start of the 2016-17 season (just three years ago), the average number of games that head coaches had spent with their respective team was just 195.5 games. Entering the 2013-14 season, that average was as low as 159.8 games.
The fact that Gregg Popovich has been with the San Antonio Spurs for the last 23 seasons does have a significant effect on these numbers. Per our research, if Popovich retired right now and the Spurs hired a new head coach, the average for the 2019-20 season would fall to 242 games with one team. That average is still very high, though, because other coaches also have a longer leash than their peers throughout NBA history.
It says something about the stability NBA coaches have that even in arguably the most stable landscape ever, the average coach still gets fired a little over 3.5 years into the job. It comes as no surprise that a recent 20-year study found that the NBA has more coaching turnover than professional football, baseball and hockey.
Even if NBA teams are being more patient with their head coach (relatively speaking), they’re still quicker to move on from said coach than decision-makers in the other major pro sports leagues.
The head coaches who have been with the same team for at least three years, as Schuhmann referenced, are Popovich (23 years), Rick Carlisle (11), Erik Spoelstra (11), Terry Stotts (7), Brett Brown (6), Doc Rivers (6), Brad Stevens (6), Steve Kerr (5) Quin Snyder (5), Billy Donovan (4), Alvin Gentry (4), Mike Malone (4), Kenny Atkinson (3), Scott Brooks (3), Mike D’Antoni (3) and Nate McMillan (3).
