{"id":838985,"date":"2026-09-07T01:06:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T01:06:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/838985\/"},"modified":"2026-09-07T01:06:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T01:06:18","slug":"longest-tenured-nba-head-coaches-hoops-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/838985\/","title":{"rendered":"Longest-Tenured NBA Head Coaches | Hoops Rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the second straight<\/a> offseason, Erik Spoelstra of the Heat is the longest-tenured head coach in the NBA.<\/p>\n

Spoelstra took over the top spot on our list when Gregg Popovich announced his retirement<\/a> in May 2025. Popovich had been head coach of the Spurs for nearly three decades.<\/p>\n

\"\"Spoelstra has won two championships and has made six total NBA Finals appearances since he took over as Miami\u2019s head coach in 2008. He will also be the head coach for Team USA during the 2027 World Cup and 2028 Olympics.<\/p>\n

Five of the NBA\u2019s 11 longest-tenured head coaches have been replaced since we checked in last summer, with Billy Donovan of the Bulls (September 2020), Chauncey Billups of the Trail Blazers (June 2021), Jason Kidd of the Mavericks, Jamahl Mosely of the Magic (July 2021) and Willie Green of the Pelicans (July 2021) all parting ways with their respective teams.<\/p>\n

Mosley was the only coach of the group to find a new head coaching job this offseason, having joined<\/a> the Pelicans on a five-year contract. Donovan will be the new top assistant in San Antonio, while Green is expected to join Dallas as the lead assistant.<\/p>\n

The total number of coaching changes in the past year \u2013 six \u2013 isn\u2019t abnormally high, but it\u2019s unusual for us to be removing so many names at the top of our list. The final coaching change came in Milwaukee, where former Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins replaced Doc Rivers as the top coach of the Bucks.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the current breakdown of the NBA\u2019s longest-tenured head coaches by team:<\/p>\n

Erik Spoelstra, Heat: April 2008
\nSteve Kerr, Warriors: May 2014
\nTyronn Lue, Clippers: October 2020
\nMark Daigneault, Thunder: November 2020
\nChris Finch, Timberwolves: February 2021
\nRick Carlisle, Pacers: June 24, 2021
\nWill Hardy, Jazz: June 2022
\nJoe Mazzulla, Celtics: September 2022<\/p>\n

Mazzulla became the Celtics\u2019 interim head coach in September 2022 and was named the permanent head coach in February 2023.<\/p>\n

Quin Snyder, Hawks: February 2023
\nIme Udoka, Rockets: April 2023
\nNick Nurse, Sixers: June 1, 2023
\nDarko Rajakovic, Raptors: June 13, 2023
\nBrian Keefe, Wizards: January 25, 2024<\/p>\n

Keefe became the Wizards\u2019 interim head coach in January 2024 and was named the permanent head coach in May 2024.<\/p>\n

Jordi Fernandez, Nets: April 2024
\nCharles Lee, Hornets: May 2024
\nJ.J. Redick, Lakers: June 24, 2024
\nKenny Atkinson, Cavaliers: June 28, 2024
\nJ.B. Bickerstaff, Pistons: July 2024
\nMitch Johnson, Spurs: November 2024<\/p>\n

Johnson took over as the Spurs\u2019 acting head coach in November 2024 after Gregg Popovich suffered a stroke; he was named the permanent head coach in May 2025 when Popovich stepped down from the position.<\/p>\n

Doug Christie, Kings: December 2024<\/p>\n

Christie became the Kings\u2019 interim head coach in December 2024 and was named the permanent head coach in May 2025.<\/p>\n

Tuomas Iisalo, Grizzlies: March 2025<\/p>\n

Iisalo became the Grizzlies\u2019 interim head coach in March 2025 and was named the permanent head coach in May 2025.<\/p>\n

David Adelman, Nuggets: April 2025<\/p>\n

Adelman became the Nuggets\u2019 interim head coach in April 2025 and was named the permanent head coach in May 2025.<\/p>\n

Jordan Ott, Suns: June 2025
\nMike Brown, Knicks: July 2025
\nTaylor Jenkins, Bucks: April 30, 2026
\nJamahl Mosley, Pelicans: May 18, 2026
\nSean Sweeney, Magic: June 1, 2026
\nTiago Splitter, Bulls: June 16, 2026
\nMicah Nori, Trail Blazers: June 23, 2026
\nDusty May, Mavericks: June 23, 2026<\/p>\n

Dallas announced the hiring of May mere hours after Portland did the same with Nori.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a six-year gap between Spoelstra and second-place Kerr, who has won four titles with Golden State. Incredibly, the gap of six-plus years between Kerr and third-place Lue is larger than five-plus year gap between Lue and May, the head coach most recently hired.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the second straight offseason, Erik Spoelstra of the Heat is the longest-tenured head coach in the NBA.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":838986,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,99],"class_list":["post-838985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=838985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/838986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=838985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=838985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=838985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}