The National Basketball Association (NBA) is home to some of the best basketball coaches in the world.
We rank the top five coaches, who are currently active in the prestigious league:
5. Nick Nurse
Team: Toronto Raptors
The 52-year-old tactician has impressed in his maiden coaching job in the NBA as he made history by guiding the Raptors to last year's championship.
It took only two seasons for Nurse to win his first championship and he became the first head coach to win both the NBA and NBA G League (formerly D-League) titles.
The Raptors defeated the Golden State Warriors in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, winning the Raptors their first championship in franchise history.
“Nick is great. Everybody saw what he did in his first year with the Raps,” New Sacramento Kings guard Cory Joseph said, per Josh Lewenberg of The Sports Network.
“He did it a little more behind the scenes when I was with him. But he’s been doing this for a long time… He’s a great coach.”
4. Rick Carlisle
Team: Dallas Mavericks
The retired shooting guard is one of only 11 people to win an NBA championship both as a player and as a coach.
Carlisle coached the Mavericks to a 4–2 series victory over the Miami Heat for the franchise's first championship during the 2011 NBA finals.
He is the third-longest tenured head coach in the league behind San Antonio Spurs’ Gregg Popovich (hired in December 1996) and Miami Heay’s Erik Spoelstra (hired in April 2008).
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3. Erik Spoelstra
Team: Miami Heat
The 49-year-old mentor is one of the top coaches in the league having won two NBA championships with Miami Heat.
Spoelstra is the first Asian-American head coach in the history of the four major North American sports leagues and the first Asian-American head coach to win an NBA championship.
He has led Heat to four consecutive finals appearances, with trips to the 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 NBA finals, winning the championship in both 2012 and 2013.
2. Steve Kerr
Team: Golden State Warriors
The Warriors coach has established himself as one of the best coaches in the NBA and has won three championships with his current team.
Kerr, who is a retired point guard, is an eight-time NBA champion, having won five titles as a player as well as three with the Warriors as a head coach.
He broke the NBA record for the most regular-season wins for a rookie coach and his side went on to win the 2015 NBA finals, making Kerr the first rookie coach to win a championship since Pat Riley in the 1982 NBA Finals.
1. Gregg Popovich
Team: San Antonio Spurs
The 71-year-old tactician is the most decorated active coach in the league having clinched five NBA championships.
Popovich has the most wins in NBA history (regular season and playoffs), surpassing Lenny Wilkens and Don Nelson in April 2019 and is the longest-tenured active coach in the NBA.
While under Popovich's guidance, Spurs have had a winning record against every other NBA team. The mentor has led the Spurs to all five of their NBA titles, and is one of only five coaches in NBA history to win five titles.
"I think he's the greatest coach of all time," Los Angeles Lakers superstar Lebron James said per ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst.
"We went from a league where it was inside out, where every time you came down it was throw it to the big, and then it goes to every time down pick-and-roll, and then it goes to every time down shoot a three.
"Pop has been able to adjust every single time and still, for some odd reason, keep those guys under the radar. I don't understand it."
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