NBA: Ranking every active head coach by playing career
By Corey Rausch
Every NBA head coach ranked by playing career: 17. J.B. Bickerstaff
By comparison to the rest of the list thus far, J.B. Bickerstaff was quite the accomplished collegiate athlete. He played two seasons at Oregon State before transferring to Minnesota for the final two seasons of his career. In his final year, he averaged 10.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. Unfortunately, this did not result in him making the leap to the professional level.
Three years after his playing career ended, he found himself as the assistant of the Charlotte Bobcats. Since then, he has been an assistant head coach with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Houston Rockets, Memphis Grizzlies and Cleveland Cavaliers. He has been an interim coach three times and a head coach twice. He seems to finally be finding his niche, building a defensive unit around young talent that is committed to the grind.
Playing at two Division I schools to any level of success is a clear step that we have finally reached a different portion of this list. No longer are all of the coaches topping out as a high school prodigy or college bench warmer. From now on, this will be coaches who can relate to their players on a different level because they have also played at the highest level.