If there’s a best coach in a sport, there also has to be a worst coach.
Over the past few months, The Athletic has traveled across North America to ask NBA players personal questions about their peers and rival coaches in the league, with the promise of anonymity if they shared their unfiltered thoughts.
While Boston Celtics boss Joe Mazzulla received the most votes as the “most impressive coach” in basketball other than the voters’ own, there had to be someone to get the “least impressive” votes on the other side.
Out of the 100 players who were surveyed for the question, Washington Wizards head coach Brian Keefe received the dishonor of being named the worst leader in all of basketball.
Keefe, who was an assistant coach for over a decade with the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder, eventually received a head coaching gig with the struggling Washington franchise, which has tried to stay afloat amid an exodus of talent.
To say Keefe has struggled would be an understatement, as he is 43-160 overall as the man in charge of the Wizards.
Although he hasn’t had the roster or assets to truly do much in the nation’s capital, it has been mostly turmoil for Keefe since he received the job.
Here are the full results of who the players think is at the bottom of the barrel in coaching in the NBA.
- Brian Keefe (Wizards) — 22.0%
- Doc Rivers (Bucks) — 14.0%
- Doug Christie (Kings) — 10.0%
- Steve Kerr (Warriors) — 6.0%
- Billy Donovan (Bulls) — 5.0%
- Nick Nurse (76ers) — 5.0%
- Mike Brown (Knicks) — 4.0%
- Rick Carlisle (Pacers) — 4.0%
- Will Hardy (Jazz) — 4.0%
- Jordi Fernandez (Nets) — 3.0%
- Jason Kidd (Mavericks) — 3.0%
- Jamahl Mosley (Magic) — 3.0%
- JJ Redick (Lakers) — 3.0%
- Ime Udoka (Rockets) — 3.0%
- Kenny Atkinson (Cavaliers) — 2.0%
- Tyronn Lue (Clippers) — 2.0%
- Joe Mazzulla (Celtics) — 2.0%