Who are the highest paid coaches in the NBA?

On Wednesday, it was announced that Monty Williams is out as the head coach of the Detroit Pistons. This is consequential for many reasons. It means that the Pistons will be on the market for a new coach. It means that Williams is now available for hire. And for the sake of this article, it means one of the highest paid coaches (average annual salary of 13.1 million dollars) is no longer at the helm.

So, with Williams no longer employed, who are the highest paid active coaches in the NBA?

Highest Paid Coaches In 2024

It is worth mentioning that not every coach’s salary is known by the general public. For instance, the salaries of Denver Nuggets Head Coach Mike Malone and Philadelphia 76ers Head Coach Nick Nurse are unknown to us. 

However, thanks to various reporting and websites like SalarySwish, Boardroom, and Sportico, we have a good idea of what most NBA head coaches are making on an annual basis. Based on that information, here are the top seven highest paid coaches in terms of the average annual value of their contract.

Highest Paid Coaches in 2024

What Do These Coaches Have In Common?

At a glance, the big thing that ties all these high-paid individuals is championship pedigree. All of them have been the head coach of a team that has made it all the way to the NBA Finals. And all of them (except Mike Brown) have been the head coach of a team that has won the NBA Championship.

Even though Brown has never won a title as a head coach, he does have three championship rings to his name as an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs (under Gregg Popovich) and the Golden State Warriors (under Steve Kerr).

So, it is safe to say that winning big gets you paid big in the NBA.