This is a list of NBA All-Star Game head coaches. The National Basketball Association All-Star Game is an annual

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

exhibition game held during the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

(NBA) regular season. From 1951 to 2017, the All-Star Game was played between the Western Conference All-Stars and the Eastern Conference All-Stars, where the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

for each All- Star team was the coach of the NBA team with the best record from their respective conference. To ensure that a different coach represents their conference each year, there is a rule against a head coach making a consecutive appearance. Instead, the coach with the next best record is selected. This rule is known as the "Riley Rule" and was introduced in the early 1990s after the dominance of the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers team in the Western Conference, which was coached by

Pat Riley Patrick James Riley (born March 20, 1945) is an American professional basketball executive, former coach, and former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been the team president of the Miami Heat since 1995, and he also se ...

. For the

2018 NBA All-Star Game The 2018 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game that was played on February 18, 2018, during the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2017–18 season. It was the 67th edition of the NBA All-Star Game, and was played at Staples Ce ...

, the format of the game changed. The starters and reserves were chosen as usual, but the two captains (one from each conference) draft their team from those starters and reserves. The coaches are also selected as usual, and matched with the captain from their respective conference. Only

Lenny Wilkens Leonard Randolph Wilkens (born October 28, 1937) is an American former basketball player and coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been inducted three times into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, first in 1989 as ...

( SuperSonics, Cavaliers, and Hawks) and Alex Hannum ( Hawks, Warriors, and

76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Ea ...

) have represented three separate teams as the All-Star Game coach. Red Auerbach, the head coach for the Boston Celtics between 1950-1966, coached the most All-Star Games with 11 appearances.

Key

Eastern Division / Conference (1951–2017)

Western Division / Conference (1951–2017)

Red Auerbach stepped down from the Boston Celtics' head coaching position at the end of the .

Unconferenced format (2018–present)

Most selections

References

{{NBA All-Star Games National Basketball Association coaches

Head coaches A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in asso ...

All-Star Game head coaches