Having one of the best NBA coaches isn’t a guarantee of success. Even Hall of Fame head coaches need talent on the roster to compete, whether that’s one of the Association’s best centers or a couple of the best defensive players.
The leading coaches excel at player management and in-game adjustments. They can tweak their offense to find the weak points in an opposing defense and switch up their own defensive coverages to make the most of the players at their disposal.
Inevitably, there’s focus on players under pressure heading into a new season, but scrutiny on coaches is higher than ever with the access to game footage and analytics.
So as the 2025 NBA season gets ready to tip off and most of the spotlight falls on the players running up and down the court, let’s give some love to the ten best coaches pacing the sidelines today.
1. Erik Spoelstra (Heat)
Even after a disappointing year for the Heat, Erik Spoelstra still deserves recognition as the best coach in the NBA. He has a long list of second-round picks and undrafted players who have developed into reliable rotation pieces under his leadership.
Neither the offense nor the defense ever fall far below league average, no matter the talent on the roster. Maybe last season was a blip, or maybe it was the beginning of the end for Spoelstra in Miami, but for now he gets the benefit of the doubt.
If you ever question his impact, just look back at the playoff series where he has completely outcoached his counterpart.
2. Rick Carlisle (Pacers)
Taking the Pacers to within one game of the title ensures Rick Carlisle a place in the top three. He could easily have overtaken Spoelstra. Carlisle is an ingenious play designer and has a long track record of developing players, with Aaron Nesmith and Andrew Nembhard as two of the most recent examples.
The way he has adapted to different rosters and playing styles is a testament to his flexibility. He made Dallas highly efficient with Luka Dončić dominating the ball, and then took Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers to the Finals with an up-tempo, free-flowing attack.
3. Ty Lue (Clippers)
It doesn’t matter who is on the roster, Ty Lue always produces a great defense. His teams are consistently among the league’s best in efficiency after timeouts, with Lue drawing up some of the smartest plays in the Association.
Stars respect him, and role players are clearly empowered by his coaching. That balance is a big reason he has kept the Clippers competitive even with Kawhi Leonard missing so much time. The 2024–25 season was the latest example, as the Clippers still played better than .500 basketball in games without Kawhi.
4. Steve Kerr (Warriors)
Few coaches in any sport have achieved as much success as Steve Kerr while facing so much criticism. At times, he could simplify the offense, but his commitment to motion principles is a major reason the Warriors built a dynasty.
The two-timeline experiment never worked out, and Kerr never seemed fully invested in it, yet he proved he still has what it takes to lead a contender with the way Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler, and Draymond Green performed down the stretch.
Golden State will again be dangerous if its veterans are healthy in the spring.
5. Mark Daigneault (Thunder)
Mark Daigneault had his hiccups in the playoffs, most notably the fouling-up-three mistake and the unusual decision to change his starting five before Game 1 of the Finals. Still, Daigneault led a young Thunder team to the title, an achievement that should not be minimized, even given the talent at his disposal.
Yes, the Thunder have a stacked roster, and their gifted young players would likely be improving under almost any coach. But Daigneault has built a rock-solid locker room and made his team remarkably composed under pressure, especially for such an inexperienced group.
That is without even mentioning a 68-win regular season and an all-time great defense.
6. Will Hardy (Jazz)
Ignore the winning percentage. Will Hardy has made subpar Jazz rosters more competitive than Danny Ainge probably intended. He turned Lauri Markkanen into a star and has shown he can guide a team to exceed expectations, even when that is not what the front office wants at the time.
It will be some time before we see what Hardy can accomplish in the playoffs, as Utah appears headed for another rebuilding season. The fact that the Jazz have extended him through the 2030–31 season shows just how highly he is regarded within the organization.
7. Mike Brown (Knicks)
Mike Brown’s work with the long-struggling Kings earns him a place in the top ten. He transformed a team largely devoid of defensive talent into a respectable group on that end of the floor.
It is a pattern that has defined his head-coaching career. There have been occasional questionable choices, such as his reluctance to start Keon Ellis in the first half of last season, but Brown’s ability to make his defenses greater than the sum of their parts bodes well for the Knicks with Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns.
Offensively, Brown’s teams are just as well-drilled. He turned the Kings into one of the league’s most efficient units built around Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox.
8. Ime Udoka (Rockets)
Ime Udoka has been unfairly reduced to a “culture builder” in some coaching discourse. While he has certainly made the Celtics and Rockets into fierce, accountable competitors, he has also been quietly inventive, most notably with the Steven Adams and Alperen Şengün frontcourt tandem.
Each season, Udoka’s teams have improved by double-digit wins. That trend will not continue forever, but it shows how his relentless commitment to improvement brings the best out of his rosters.
This season will test him again, with Fred VanVleet ruled out for the year.
9. JJ Redick (Lakers)
For a rookie coach with no prior assistant experience, JJ Redick delivered a brilliant debut season. A self-described “basketball sicko,” Redick spent the regular season fine-tuning his approach and making effective game-to-game adjustments. He even had the Lakers playing top-10 defense for a stretch with a roster that should have ranked near the bottom.
The team’s three-point rate skyrocketed, and the ball moved with a fluidity that had been missing under Darvin Ham. Even after Luka Dončić arrived, Redick kept the Lakers from falling into the stagnant, heliocentric half-court style that had long defined Dallas.
10. Nick Nurse (76ers)
Nick Nurse was the hardest coach to rank. At times he has looked like a top-three coach, known for his inventive defensive schemes and his ability to craft efficient offenses from imperfect rosters.
His tenure in Toronto ended on a sour note, and the Sixers’ disastrous 2024–25 season closed with visible signs of disengagement and low effort. There were encouraging stretches before Joel Embiid’s injury, but it remains to be seen whether this ranking is too high or too low for Nurse.
Want more Sandman? Come connect with us here at sandmansports.com/onestopshop
Author
