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NBA: 30 players who should be coaches someday

By Josh Cornelissen

USA basket head coach Mike Krzyzewski (R) chats with his player Rajon Rondo (L) during a training session at La Caja Magica pavillion in Madrid, on August 19, 2010. The US team arrived in Madrid to hold a four-day training camp that started on August 17, ahead of exhibition games against Lithuania, Spain and Greece before they open the world tournament in Turkey against Croatia on August 28. AFP PHOTO / JAVIER SORIANO (Photo credit should read JAVIER SORIANO/AFP via Getty Images)
USA basket head coach Mike Krzyzewski (R) chats with his player Rajon Rondo (L) during a training session at La Caja Magica pavillion in Madrid, on August 19, 2010. The US team arrived in Madrid to hold a four-day training camp that started on August 17, ahead of exhibition games against Lithuania, Spain and Greece before they open the world tournament in Turkey against Croatia on August 28. AFP PHOTO / JAVIER SORIANO (Photo credit should read JAVIER SORIANO/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Ed Davis
Ed Davis, Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images /

NBA: 30 players who should be coaches someday 28. Ed Davis

For some players, we are trying to take a peek into the locker room to see which ones are providing veteran leadership off the bench. We aren’t there at every practice or in the moments before and after every game. We have to take what we see on the court and extrapolate it out from there.

Except in the case of Ed Davis. The power forward now with the Minnesota Timberwolves is trapped on a roster undergoing a youth movement and therefore rarely played. Rather than sulk or demand a way out, he has leaned into his role as the team’s veteran presence, taking young players under his wing and supporting the coaching staff in implementing plays and schemes.

His work did not go unnoticed, and on a road trip this season, he was given the “coach’s key” and allowed to stay in head coach Chris Finch’s suite. He was, in essence, already a coach for this team and the entire organization acknowledged him as such. While focusing on staying ready to play, his work coaching up the incredibly young Minnesota Timberwolves is already at a level to be celebrated.

Davis has struggled to hang onto his spot in the league as his game is marginalized in the modern NBA. Now in his 30s, Davis played just 602 minutes combined the last two seasons. Teams might keep him on as a player-coach of sorts and that could extend his career. Once it’s over, he might make a quick transition into the coaching ranks.