List of foreign NBA coaches

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (March 2016)

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In the National Basketball Association (NBA), foreign coaches—also known as international coaches—are those who were born outside the United States.

This list includes all international coaches who have been assistant and/or head coach in the NBA and also includes all coaches who were born in the United States but have represented other countries in international basketball competition.

In 2000, Igor Kokoškov from Serbia became the first non-American to hold a full-time assistant coach position in the NBA.[1] In 2004, he became the first non-American assistant coach to win an NBA championship, and the first to serve on an NBA All-Star Game coaching staff.[2] In 2018, he became the first fully European head coach in the NBA.[3]

## List

[edit]

Note: These lists are correct through the start of the 2023–24 season.

Yrs | Number of seasons coached in the NBA

|

*  | Denotes head or assistant coach who is still active in the NBA

### List of head coaches

[edit]

Nationality[A] | Birthplace[B] | Head coach  | Career[C] | Yrs  | Notes  | Ref.

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|
|
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Canada |  South Africa | Steve Nash | 2020–2022 | 3  | —  | [4]
Canada | —  | Jay Triano | 2008–2011; 2017–2018 | 4  | —  | [5]
Finland | —  | Tuomas Iisalo*  | 2025–present | 0  | —  |
Israel |  United States | David Blatt | 2014–2016 | 2  | Born in the United States to Jewish parents, has dual U.S. and Israeli citizenship.  | [6]
Italy |  United States | Mike D'Antoni | 1998–1999; 2003–2014; 2016–2020 | 16  | Born in the United States to Italian parents, has dual U.S. and Italian citizenship.  | [7]
Nigeria |  United States | Ime Udoka*  | 2021–2022; 2023–present | 3  | Born in the United States to Nigerian parents, has dual U.S. and Nigerian citizenship. Suspended for the 2022–23 season.  |
Serbia |  SFR Yugoslavia[D]
(now  Serbia)  | Igor Kokoškov | 2018–2019 | 1  | Also holds U.S. citizenship as of 2010.  | [8]
Serbia |  SFR Yugoslavia[D]
(now  Serbia)  | Darko Rajaković*  | 2023–present | 2  | —  | [9]
Spain | —  | Jordi Fernández*  | 2024–present | 1  | —  | [10]
United States |  Lebanon | Steve Kerr*  | 2014–present | 9  | Born in Lebanon to Malcolm H. Kerr, a Lebanese-born American citizen.[11] | [12]
United States |  Russian Empire[E]
(now  Ukraine)  | Eddie Gottlieb | 1946–1955 | 9  | Born in the Russian Empire, moved to the United States as a child, became a naturalized U.S. citizen.  |
United States |  West Germany | Kiki VanDeWeghe | 2009–2010 | 1  | Born in West Germany[F] to a Canadian father and an American mother. Holds both American and Canadian passports.  | [13]

### List of assistant coaches

[edit]

Nationality[A] | Birthplace[B] | Assistant coach  | Career[C] | Yrs  | Notes  | Ref.

|
|
|
|
|
|

Argentina | —  | Pablo Prigioni*  | 2018–present | 5  | Also holds Italian citizenship.  | [14]
Australia | —  | Adam Caporn*  | 2022–present | 1  | —  |
Australia | —  | Damian Cotter*  | 2020–present | 3  | —  |
Australia | —  | Trevor Gleeson*  | 2021–present | 2  | —  |
Australia | —  | Matthew Nielsen*  | 2021–present | 2  | —  |
Belize |  United States | Marlon Garnett*  | 2015–present | 8  | Born in the United States to Belizean parents, has dual U.S. and Belize citizenship.  |
Brazil | —  | Leandro Barbosa*  | 2022–present | 1  | —  |
Brazil | —  | Tiago Splitter | 2019–2023 | 4  | —  |
Canada | —  | Gordon Herbert | 2008–2009 | 1  | Also holds Finnish citizenship.  |
Canada | —  | Jamaal Magloire | 2013–2016 | 3  | —  |
Canada | —  | Scott Morrison*  | 2017–2021
2023–present | 4  | —  |
Canada |  Great Britain
England | Roy Rana | 2019–2022 | 3  | —  |
Canada | —  | Jay Triano*  | 2002–2008; 2012–2017; 2018–present | 16  | —  | [5]
Democratic Republic of the Congo |  Zaire
(now  Democratic Republic of the Congo)  | Patrick Mutombo | 2012–2015; 2016–2020; 2022–present | 9  | Also holds Belgian citizenship.  |
Croatia |  SFR Yugoslavia[D]
(now  Croatia)  | Neven Spahija | 2014–2017; 2019–2020 | 4  | —  |
Eswatini | —  | Jama Mahlalela*  | 2012–2018; 2020–present | 9  | Also holds Canadian citizenship.  |
Finland | —  | Tuomas Iisalo*  | 2024–2025 | 1  |  |
France |  United States | James Wade*  | 2023–present | 0  | Born in the United States, became a naturalized French citizen.  |
Germany |  West Germany[F]
(now  Germany)  | Detlef Schrempf | 2005–2007 | 2  | —  |
Georgia |  United States | Tyrone Ellis | 2017–2018 | 1  | Born in the United States, became a naturalized Georgian citizen.  |
Great Britain
Scotland | —  | Alex McKechnie | 2013–2020 | 7  | —  |
Great Britain
England |  United States | Nate Reinking*  | 2021–present | 1  | —  |
Greece | —  | Fotios Katsikaris | 2018–2019 | 1  | —  | <
Ireland |  United States | Jay Larrañaga*  | 2012–present | 11  | Born in the United States to Irish parents, has dual U.S. and Irish citizenship.  |
Ireland |  United States | Jim Moran | 2015–2023 | 8  | Born in the United States to Irish parents, has dual U.S. and Irish citizenship.  |
Israel |  United States | Josh Oppenheimer*  | 2013–2017; 2020–present | 8  | Born in the United States, has dual U.S. and Israeli citizenship.  |
Italy |  United States | Mike D'Antoni | 1997–1998; 2000–2001; 2002–2003; 2015–2016; 2020–2021 | 5  | Born in the United States to Italian parents, has dual U.S. and Italian citizenship.  | [7]
Italy |  United States | Anthony Dobbins*  | 2018–present | 5  | Born in the United States, became a naturalized Italian citizen.  |
Italy | —  | Riccardo Fois | 2019–2021 | 2  | —  |
Italy | —  | Ettore Messina | 2014–2019 | 5  | —  |
Italy | —  | Sergio Scariolo | 2018–2021 | 3  | —  |
Jordan |  United States | Maz Trakh | 2010–2014; 2016–2019 | 7  | Born in the United States, has dual U.S. and Jordanian citizenship.  |
Lithuania |  Soviet Union[G]
(now  Lithuania)  | Darius Songaila*  | 2019–present | 4  | —  |
Nigeria |  United States | Ekpe Udoh*  | 2023–present | 0  | Born in the United States to Nigerian parents, has dual U.S. and Nigerian citizenship.  |
Nigeria |  United States | Ime Udoka | 2012–2021 | 9  | Born in the United States to Nigerian parents, has dual U.S. and Nigerian citizenship.  |
North Macedonia |  United States | Shayne Whittington*  | 2023–present | 0  | Born in the United States, became a naturalized Macedonian citizen.  |
Palestine | —  | Mahmoud Abdelfattah | 2022–2023 | 1  | Also holds U.S. citizenship.  |
Philippines |  United States | Chip Engelland*  | 1999–2000; 2003–present | 21  | Born in the United States, became a naturalized Filipino citizen.  |
Poland | —  | Marcin Gortat*  | 2022–present | 1  | —  |
Russia |  United States | Becky Hammon | 2014–2022 | 8  | Born in the United States, became a naturalized Russian citizen.  |
Senegal | —  | DeSagana Diop | 2016–2022 | 6  | —  |
Serbia |  SFR Yugoslavia[D]
(now  Serbia)  | Aleksandar Džikić | 2005–2007 | 2  | —  |
Serbia |  SFR Yugoslavia[D]
(now  Serbia)  | Igor Kokoškov*  | 2000–2018; 2019–2020; 2021–present | 21  | Also holds U.S. citizenship as of 2010.  | [15]
Serbia |  SFR Yugoslavia[D]
(now  Serbia)  | Dejan Milojević | 2021–2024 | 3  | Died during the 2023–24 season.  |
Serbia |  SFR Yugoslavia[D]
(now  Serbia)  | Darko Rajaković | 2014–2023 | 9  | —  | [9]
Serbia |  SFR Yugoslavia[D]
(now  Serbia)  | Ivo Simović*  | 2023–present | 0  | —  |
Serbia |  SFR Yugoslavia[D]
(now  Serbia)  | Ognjen Stojaković*  | 2016–present | 7  | —  | [16]
Serbia |  SFR Yugoslavia[D]
(now  Serbia)  | Nenad Trajković | 2010–2011 | 1  | —  |
Slovakia |  United States | Kristi Toliver*  | 2018–present | 5  | Born in the United States, became a naturalized Slovak citizen.  |
Slovenia |  SFR Yugoslavia[D]
(now  Slovenia)  | Marko Milič*  | 2022–present | 1  | —  |
Spain | —  | Jordi Fernández | 2016–2024 | 7  | —  | [17]
Spain | —  | Sergi Oliva | 2020–2022 | 2  | —  | [18]
Turkey | —  | Erdem Can | 2021–2022 | 1  | —  |
Turkey | —  | Mehmet Okur | 2016–2017 | 1  | —  |
Ukraine |  Soviet Union[G]
(now  Ukraine)  | Vitaly Potapenko*  | 2010–2011;
2013–2017;
2018–present | 10  | —  |
United States |  Cuba | Octavio De La Grana*  | 2010–2012
2016–present | 9  | Born in Cuba, moved to the United States at the age of 6, became a naturalized U.S. citizen.  |
United States |  Jamaica | Patrick Ewing | 2002–2017 | 15  | Born in Jamaica, moved to the United States at the age of 11, became a naturalized U.S. citizen.  |
United States |  Romania | Ernie Grunfeld | 1989–1991 | 2  | Born in Romania, moved to the United States at the age of 8, became a naturalized U.S. citizen.  | [19]
United States |  U.S. Virgin Islands | Tim Duncan | 2019–2020 | 1  | —  |
U.S. Virgin Islands |  United States | David Vanterpool | 2012–2022 | 10  | Born on the United States mainland, represented U.S. Virgin Islands internationally.[20] |

## See also

[edit]

* List of Serbian NBA coaches
* List of foreign NBA players
* Race and ethnicity in the NBA
* List of current NBA head coaches
* List of NBA head coaches with 400 games coached

## Notes

[edit]

* A Nationality indicates a coach's representative nationality.
* B Birthplace indicates a coach's country of birth. A blank column indicates that the coach's birth country is the same to his nationality.
* C Career in the NBA
* D SFR Yugoslavia dissolved in 1992 into five independent countries, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia, and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. FR Yugoslavia was renamed into Serbia and Montenegro in February 2003 and dissolved in June 2006 into two independent countries, Montenegro and Serbia.
* E The Russian Empire was overthrown during the Russian Revolution in 1917; the resulting areas would eventually lead to being involved with 22 different modern-day countries.
* F Germany was previously divided into two independent countries, the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and German Democratic Republic (East Germany), from 1949 to 1990.
* G The Soviet Union dissolved in December 1991 into 15 independent countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Magic Name Igor Kokoskov Assistant Coach
2. ^ "Jazz Announce Basketball Staff Additions". NBA.com. July 1, 2015. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
3. ^ "Adrian Wojnarowski on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
4. ^ "Nets Fire Coach Steve Nash". New York Times. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
5. ^ a b "Jay Triano Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
6. ^ "David Blatt Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
7. ^ a b "Mike D'Antoni Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
8. ^ "Igor Kokoškov Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
9. ^ a b "Darko Rajaković Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
10. ^ "Denver Nuggets add Jordi Fernandez to coaching staff". denverstiffs.com. NBA. July 4, 2016. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
11. ^ Silver, Michael (April 7, 1997). "Straight Shooter". Sports Illustrated. Time Warner Company. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved October 14, 2010.
12. ^ "Steve Kerr Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
13. ^ "Kiki Vandeweghe Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
14. ^ "Pablo Prigioni And Tiago Splitter Added To Brooklyn Nets Staff". NBA.com. April 24, 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
15. ^ "Igor Kokoškov Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
16. ^ "Meet the 2016-17 Nuggets Coaches". nba.com/nuggets. NBA. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
17. ^ "Denver Nuggets add Jordi Fernandez to coaching staff". denverstiffs.com. NBA. July 4, 2016. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
18. ^ "Jazz add Sergi Oliva to coaching staff". nba.com. Retrieved August 27, 2021.
19. ^ "Archives". Los Angeles Times.
20. ^ "David Vanterpool Profile". PBC CSKA Moscow. Retrieved October 3, 2010.

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