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NBA: Ranking every active head coach by playing career

By Corey Rausch

March 23, 2021; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr during the fourth quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
March 23, 2021; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr during the fourth quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /
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Quin Snyder
Quin Snyder (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /

Every NBA head coach ranked by playing career: 16. Quin Snyder

Quin Snyder is the final coach on this list who did not play at the professional level but came as close to it as possible, being a four-year rotation player at Duke University. In the final two years of that time, Snyder was a full-time starter. Duke made the Final Four in his freshman, junior and senior seasons. Snyder was also named the captain of the team during his senior year.

Snyder went to graduate school at Duke after his playing days and started his assistant coaching career in the NBA with the LA Clippers for a season and then under Mike Krzyzewski at Duke. During his tenure on the staff, Duke made two more Final Fours and an Elite Eight. Next came head coaching tenures at the University of Missouri and in the D-League with the Austin Toros. Snyder made his name with the Toros as the winningest coach in the D-League during his tenure and helped develop the most future NBA players.

This would start Snyder’s tour of player development, picking up assistant coaching jobs with the Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Lakers, CSKA Moscow and Atlanta Hawks for one season at a time. Snyder built his reputation and that led to him getting hired by the Utah Jazz in 2014.