Among all basketball leagues, the NBA is the richest and most renowned basketball league worldwide. Despite that, the NBA coaches do not make as much as the NBA players, but they can either make much from it.
Indeed, in any sport, a coach has the most challenging job because he has to manage multiple tasks. For instance, they have to supervise the whole team, go along with everyone equally, bring innovative strategies to win the match, and encounter the media is also one of the crucial jobs of a coach.
Also, it is sometimes quite hard to match the chemistry between the coach and the players. So a coach should know how to manage and walk with the entire team equally and fruitfully.
Being a multi-tasking person, what do you expect from the salary of an NBA coach? However, despite all these hassled tasks, an NBA coach does not make as much money as the players do. But it is still one of the highest-paid jobs in the world of sports.
Go through the entire content to know about how much an NBA coach makes and who are some of the highest-paid NAB coaches?
How Much Do NBA Coaches Make? What Is Their Salary?
Well, different coaches of different teams do vary in their salaries according to their ranks and capabilities. And it is also a fact that the teams rarely share their salaries in media with the public. Thus, there is some estimated figure which is their basic salaries.
Below, I have compiled the highest-paid NBA coaches who have fulfilled their responsibilities in pretty exclusive manners in the league and are now earning the most. The list is ranked from highest to lowest salaries.
Gregg Popovich
Gregg Popovich is currently the greatest and highest-paid coach in the NBA, who started his career in 1992 with the Golden State Warriors. Yet, in 1996, he joined the San Antonio Spurs team.
Thus, he spent his long period of life with the same franchise and became the oldest coach of the team. Moreover, he is one of the NBA champions who has won the championship five times in his journey and at last became a coach of the same team.
He has coached and trained many basketball players who are now very popular in the league and lead the game. These players include Kawhi Leonard, David Robinson, and Tim Duncan, etc.
Gregg is currently coaching the US National Basketball Men’s team and has signed three further contracts worth $33 million. However, the annual salary of Gregg Popovich is approximately $11 million and ranks number one among the highest-paid NBA coaches.
Doc Rivers
After Popovich comes Doc Rivers, who has played 13 seasons of NBA league and ultimately, in 1999, he became the head coach. However, right after a year of becoming coach, in 2000, he won an award for the best coach of the year. He spent five years with the Orlando Magic team.
Afterward, he joined the Boston Celtics team as a head coach and was awarded the title of the head of the coach when he signed with Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.
Right now, Doc has been coaching the Los Angeles Clippers since 2013 and falls on the second-highest-paid NBA coach who earns $10 million per year.
Nick Nurse
Then comes Nick Nurse, who earns not less than $8 million annually. He started his basketball career in 1990 and became a player-coach of the British Basketball League.
However, in 2013, he headed towards the NBA league and started coaching the Toronto Raptors team. In the 2018-2019 NBA season, he won the championship and became one of the league’s highest-paid coaches.
Rick Carlisle
After Popovich, Rick Carlisle is the longest-serving coach in the NBA with one team. He joined Dallas Mavericks in 2008 and has been coaching the team till now. He started his playing career in 1984 as a basketball player. But in 1989, he decided to serve as a playing coach in the league.
Hence, Rick joined Portland Trail Blazers in 1994. He has been coaching the Mavs since 2008, and he led a charge with Dirk Nowitzki in 2011. He became a great collaborator as a rival of Miami Heat ran by LeBron James.
In 2015, Rick signed a contract with Boston Mavericks for five years, worth approximately $35 million. However, his salary as an NBA coach is $7 million per year.
Billy Donovan
Last but not least, Billy Donovan, right now, is coaching the Chicago Bulls. However, he started his coaching career with Florida and spent most of his age with the Florida team.
Afterward, in 2015, Billy signed a contract with Oklahoma City Thunder team for the next five years, which cost $30 million. However, when he ended up with this team in 2020, he signed a new contract with Chicago Bulls. The annual salary of Rick Donovan is $6 million.
Concluding Words
In a nutshell, NBA coaches earn a considerable amount of income, making them the highest-paid coaches in the league.
However, if you calculate the salary of the number one coach of the NBA, Gregg Popovich, who earns $11 million per year, approximately makes $0.9 million per month, which is an incredible amount.
Anyhow, I just discussed five NBA coaches, but there are many NBA coaches who receive a high amount every year. Well, I must say, it is all the reward of their high skills, years of experience, and their hard work which make them successful in their career.
Honestly, coaching is a quite tricky and hassled job that every person cannot manage to execute. Yet, the NBA coaches I enlisted in the article have effectively managed to fulfill their tasks reliably, which led them to their destinations.