5. Rick Adelman
Fans might recall Rick Adelman as one of the most successful coaches of the Sacramento Kings era, who led the Kings to a 61-21 record in the 2001-2002 season with beloved former players like Chris Webber, Mike Bibby, Vlade Divac and Peja Stojakovic.
Before becoming a head coach, he experienced a short-lived tenure as an NBA player. He was a 6’1″ point guard who was drafted by the San Diego Rockets in the 1968 NBA Draft. He averaged 6.7 points and 3.1 assists per game in two seasons with the Rockets and later moved to the Portland Trail Blazers.
In three seasons with the Blazers, he averaged 9.8 points and 4.6 assists per game. He later spent one season with the Bulls.
In his last NBA season at age 28, he was on three teams in one season, the Chicago Bulls, the New Orleans Jazz, and the Kansas City-Omaha Kings.
During his stint with the Kings, Adelman only averaged 1.7 points in 6.7 minutes per game. At age 45, Adelman became an assistant coach with the Trail Blazers and later became the Blazers head coach. During his head coach career, he coached for the Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves and Houston Rockets and the aforementioned early 2000s Kings.