Warriors head coach Steve Kerr is the NBA’s highest-paid head coach, with an average annual value of $17.5MM on his current contract, according to Kurt Badenhausen of Sportico. Erik Spoelstra of the Heat and Tyronn Lue of the Clippers round out the top three at $15MM per year, Badenhausen adds.
While Kerr is the highest earner among head coaches in the short term, his deal with Golden State expires at the end of the 2025/26 season, whereas Spoelstra (eight years) and Lue (five years) signed longer-term extensions in 2024, so they’re assured of far more overall guaranteed money.
After that top three, there are several coaches in the range of $11MM annually, per Badenhausen: Doc Rivers of the Bucks, Ime Udoka of the Rockets, Joe Mazzulla of the Celtics, and Rick Carlisle of the Pacers.
The Knicks‘ Mike Brown is the only other coach with an average annual value of at least $10MM, with Mavericks coach Jason Kidd coming in at $9.5MM per year and Lakers coach JJ Redick at $9MM annually.
Interestingly, while Spoelstra, Kerr, and Lue are three of the NBA’s four longest-tenured head coaches, the other member of that group – Billy Donovan of the Bulls, the league’s third longest-tenured coach – doesn’t crack the list of top 10 salaries shared by Badenhausen.
Details on the other 20 NBA head coaches’ contracts aren’t included in Badenhausen’s report, but he notes that the lower end of coaching salaries is approximately $4MM per year. Presumably, that figure applies only to coaches who have the title permanently, rather than assistants who have received in-season promotions and are serving as interim replacements, such as James Borrego in New Orleans or Tiago Splitter in Portland.
For what it’s worth, the NBA’s estimated average salary for players in 2025/26 is $13.87MM, so just three of 30 head coaches are earning more than an average player in the league.
I get Kerr and spoelstra, but Lue??? Balmer really is an idiot.
I don’t even get Kerr. Like he literally said out loud these things:
-I love losing
-I dont know how to develop any players
-I dont know how to schedule a practice
-I think small ball is always the answer to any situation
Kerr is an insult to his profession. I seriously hope he is forced to retire before Curry does, just so my point can be proven.
No one is ever going to say Steve Kerr was a bad coach.
BeachGuy 2 where have you been? Davey J says Steve Kerr was/is a bad coach like 22 times each and every day.
Waiting for Davey…
Popcorn is ready
Davey in 3, 2 ….
Lmao what a ridiculous overpay for a massively average coach in Kerr that has been gifted some of the best collection of talent over his entire coaching career.
then clearly you don’t realize the decades of futility we dubs fans have endured….
Curry, Green and Thompson would’ve never reached their full potential without Kerr.
They easily would have.
Kerr let Curry be himself instead of trying to pigeonhole him into the role of a traditional point guard like Mark Jackson did. He installed the motion offense so Thompson could thrive off ball by shooting and thus creating space. He also started Green over David Lee thereby leveraging Green’s defense and playmaking. He revolutionized the game by recognizing and utilizing their talents.
2022 team was not over flowing of talent but won and beat a more talented Celtics team
Because of Stephen Curry and only Stephen Curry. The coach does not matter. We have seen it for ourselves: Kerr is openly putting lesser talented rotations on the court and they lose because they are going up against the other teams best 5 players. All Kerr has to do is play his 5 highest paid players and he would win and I would never complain. Instead he decides GP2, a lowly paid, never elite, nepo baby scrub is a late and close option.
This reporting is a little off. Mike Brown is the highest paid coach in the NBA, not Kerr. Brown is paid $10M by the Knicks AND $8.5M by the Kings!!
Monty says hi.
Incorrect. A coach can’t be paid by two teams (conflict of interest).
SAC’s obligation to Brown vanished the moment he took the Knicks job (thats why he got a raise).
Coaching contracts have offset clauses to avoid conflicts of interest. Sacramento isn’t really paying him anything.
@HoopsRumors
Are you ever going to pay me for driving traffic here? See, I have 3 guys in this thread in @JBS @MogaBalls @mike.honcho who literally came RUNNING here, just to see what I have to say! I should be on the hoopsrumors payroll – this is proof!
I didn’t run here bro ……. slow news day, no meaningful games.
Cope
The current 2 and 5 seeds in the west are playing tonight. They’re a game a part in the standings.
SPURS Castle, Harper etc there, but still no Wemby.
Luka, Lebron’s LAKERS are boring IMO ….. both play only one one side of the court.
Seems impossible to field a winning team with two guys who do pretty much the same thing in Reaves and Doncic. They need to move one for an elite permiter defender, and it will not be Luka.
Awe Davey….Lols. that’s your best yet, thank you. You may have to settle for hoopsrumors HOF.
Thibs 10M-11M remains on the books thru next yr—anyone check in with Apsirations backdoor deals with HC’s?
Lue backstabbed the head coach and took his job midseason and got credit for winning a title with Cavs. Then he was rewarded with 4 yr lucrative contract only to go on a leave for stress amd pretty much couldnt and didnt do anything. It was embarassing how he left the Cavs only to do it again at Clippers. He is overrated and just laughing his way to the bank in LA.
Well paid, for glorified babysitters. A sign of the 2k-ization of NBA FO’s. You didn’t see these kind of salaries for NBA HCs when FO’s were run by basketball people, as they understood coaching and the fairly narrow role it plays in the NBA. Then again, modern NBA HC’s perform other roles simultaneously, such as front man and fall guy.
They’re richer than you, DXC.
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Chauncey Billups makes more than Kerr in a single poker game.
“…of the NBA’s four longest-tenured head coaches, the other member of that group – Billy Donovan of the Bulls, the league’s third longest-tenured coach – doesn’t crack the list of top 10 salaries shared by Badenhausen”
These two things are related, the team is owned by the Reinsdorfs.
Not that hard to grasp, winning as a HC is based on the talent that you are surrounded with.
Red Auerbach
Pat Riley
Phil Jackson
Gregg Poppovich
Steve Kerr
Wonder what they all have in common? Oh that’s right, multiple titles with top tier elite talent around them. Acting like Steph/Klay/Dray were winning titles before Kerr got there. It’s hilarious to me.
Steph/Klay/Dray are absolutely winning titles without Kerr. Did you ever watch any of those games? Kerr did his best to help them lose.
Look, any good faith you wanna give Kerr went away with wasting Curry’s prime since 2022 starting with Draymonds punch. He has been officially terrible since then. NBA head coach is not a lifetime job. Kerr had 3 years of Curry’s prime to win another title with and he can’t do it. So he gotta go.
Considering, they didn’t win any titles before he got there, yeah…i’m not playing a game of “what if’s”. This is not 2K lol. I go by results. They won with Kerr. That’s like saying if Phil or Pop weren’t on their teams, MJ and Duncan would have won lol.
yeah but Lebron, MJ and Duncan absolutely would have won titles lol
I don’t base my world on hypotheticals. If that’s the case then Portland should have taken MJ and Minnesota with Curry.
Thats a whataboutism, but you should be able to understand elite basketball can be played by elite players, and that should get a title. Curry plays to win, just like MJ. Both have that thirst that Harden and Westbrook and CP3 don’t have. You should be able to see it.
Agree on Harden, he’s just a selffish stats player. He’ll never win a title.
So called Warriors fans — yet you don’t know the team you lie for. Only Davey J the FankenStein Warrior fan knows the truth. I’ll give him that.
I have been trying to tell you about Kerr offense for yrs now. And how winning that Title in 2022. Has made him go all out for small ball. He is trying to duplicate that team. Obviously he thinks it’s best for Steph and their chances to win …… these are the Title teams, have you watched these games ????
2015 — Warrior team had 5 bigs 4 true Centers.
D Lee, A Bogut, Ezeli, Kusmic, Speights ….
2017 — Warrior team had 6 bigs (KD), 4 true centers
KD, D Jones, J McGee, A Varejo, D West, Z Pachilia
2018 — Warrior team had 6 bigs (KD), 4 true centers
KD, J Bell, Z Pachulia, J McGee, D West, D Jones
2022 — Warriors had ZERO true centers. Bjelica (PF) who hardly played. And 6’ 8” Looney
OK do you hear the words coming out of my mouth.…. Post who is just starting to play this year. And got Horford this year. Personally I don’t care who Kerr plays. I am a basketball fan. So I can see and read it all. You still should add a rim protector.