Last month, the Sacramento Kings fired Mike Brown, whose résumé featured back-to-back winning seasons—the first for the franchise in two decades—and two NBA Coach of the Year awards, including the only unanimous win in 2023.
The firing shocked his fellow coaches, coming just six months and 31 regular season games after the Kings gave Brown a three-year contract extension with an average base salary of $8.5 million annually. This is the reality of life in the NBA; just five coaches have led their current teams for five full seasons.
Owners are quick to pull the plug on the person on the sideline, as roster turnover is much harder to orchestrate. Coaches can take some solace that their paychecks are larger than ever and typically guaranteed. The top 10 will earn an estimated $126 million this season in base pay, up 30% over last year—the total is $135 million if you figure in the tie for 10th between Jason Kidd and Nick Nurse. The salary figures are based on conversations with teams, agents and executive recruiters, as well as published reports. Incentives can boost pay further.
Steve Kerr ($17.5 million) leads the way, ahead of Gregg Popovich ($17 million), Erik Spoelstra ($15 million) and Tyronn Lue ($15 million). Kerr (two years), Spoelstra (eight years) and Lue (five years) all signed contract extensions in 2024 that roughly doubled the average annual value (AAV) of their prior deals.
The new pacts helped 13 NBA coaches rank among the 50 highest-paid coaches in all pro and college sports before Brown’s dismissal. Kerr sits behind only a pair of NFL bosses, Andy Reid ($20 million) and Sean Payton ($18 million).
The NBA coaching market was reset in 2023 when the Detroit Pistons hired Monty Williams with a six-year, $78.5 million contract. Before Williams, only one NBA coach earned $10 million a year—the San Antonio Spurs’ Popovich.
In the 13 months after the Williams hire, seven more coaches signed eight-figure deals. Williams was fired after one season, in which Detroit posted its worst record in franchise history at 14-68. The Pistons still owe Williams $65 million, a record amount of “dead money” for NBA coaches.
The coaching salaries below are based on the AAV of their current deals, including extensions.
The Highest-Paid NBA Coaches in 2025
1. Steve Kerr (Golden State Warriors): $17.5 million
Kerr’s hiring was the final piece of launching the Warriors’ dynasty that produced four titles and six NBA Finals appearances over eight years. He previously won five titles as a player with the Chicago Bulls and Spurs. The Warriors are the NBA’s most valuable team at $9.14 billion.
2. Gregg Popovich (San Antonio Spurs): $17 million
The longest-tenured coach in all major U.S. sports leagues, Popovich took over the Spurs in December 1996. He has the most wins in NBA history and is one of just five coaches with five titles. Pop suffered a mild stroke in November, and there is no timetable for his return to the sidelines.
3 (tie). Erik Spoelstra (Miami Heat): $15 million
Spoelstra rose from Heat video coordinator in 1995 to Pat Riley’s hand-picked successor in 2008 to being tabbed as one of the NBA’s 15 greatest coaches of all time. The Heat’s belief in Spoelstra was reinforced last year when the club signed him to an eight-year, $120 million deal. It is the longest pact of any current NBA coach and the biggest total financial commitment to a coach in North American sports history.
3 (tie). Tyronn Lue (Los Angeles Clippers): $15 million
Lue was named head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers after the January 2016 firing of David Blatt and led the club to its only title in franchise history that spring. He took over the Clippers in 2020 and led them to their first-ever conference finals appearance. In May, he signed a five-year extension that starts at roughly $14 million and has an AAV of $15 million.
5. Michael Malone (Denver Nuggets): $12 million
Malone is the NBA’s fourth-longest-tenured coach, landing with Denver in 2015 after a 106-game stint with the Kings. The Nuggets gave him a raise after their 2023 NBA title. In November, Malone passed Doug Moe for the most wins in Nuggets franchise history with 433.
6 (tie). Doc Rivers (Milwaukee Bucks): $11 million
Only Popovich has more seasons than Rivers as a head coach among the current crop of bosses. Rivers has coached 26 seasons total for five different teams, with the 2008 title in Boston his crowning achievement. The former point guard left the ESPN broadcast booth in January 2024 for the Bucks job after Adrian Griffin was fired.
6 (tie). Tom Thibodeau (New York Knicks): $11 million
Thibs is a two-time Coach of the Year, and with his third team after stints in Chicago and Minnesota. He’s built a reputation as a defensive specialist and someone with incredible attention to detail. This summer, the Knicks signed Thibodeau to a three-year extension through the 2027-28 season.
8. Mike Budenholzer (Phoenix Suns): $10 million
Coach Bud spent almost two decades in San Antonio before he landed his first head coaching job in 2013 with the Atlanta Hawks, where he spent five seasons. He also lasted five years in Milwaukee, where he won the title in 2021, but was fired two years later following a first-round playoff exit after the Bucks posted the NBA’s best regular-season record.
9. Rick Carlisle (Indiana Pacers): $9 million
Carlisle is one of 12 people to win an NBA title as both a player and head coach—Boston in 1986 and Dallas in 2011. His 961 coaching wins ranks 11th in NBA history and third among active coaches behind Popovich and Rivers. The Pacers bumped his pay with an extension in October 2023.
10 (tie). Jason Kidd (Dallas Mavericks): $8.5 million
Kidd and Chauncey Billups are the two current NBA coaches who made the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as players—Popovich was elected for coaching. The former point guard is coaching his third team after stints in Brooklyn and Milwaukee. He signed a contract extension last summer after the Mavericks won the Western Conference.
10 (tie). Nick Nurse (Philadelphia 76ers): $8.5 million
Nurse is one of nine coaches in the top 10 with an NBA title—Thibodeau and Kidd are the exceptions. He led the Toronto Raptors to the championship in 2019 during his first season as an NBA head coach. He won the 2020 NBA Coach of the Year award. In April 2023, he was fired but then snapped up by the 76ers less than six weeks later.