# List of NBA All-Star Game head coaches

This is a list of NBA All-Star Game head coaches. The National Basketball Association All-Star Game is an annual basketball exhibition game held during the National Basketball Association (NBA) regular season. For most of its history, the All-Star Game was played between the Western Conference All-Stars and the Eastern Conference All-Stars, where the head coach for each All-Star team was the coach of the NBA team with the best record from their respective conference. From the 2018 to the 2023 game, the format of the game was slightly altered. The starters and reserves were chosen as usual, but the two captains (one from each conference) draft their team from those starters and reserves. The coaches are also selected as usual, and matched with the captain from their respective conference. For the 2025 game, the format was changed to a tournament style, pitting four teams of eight players each. Three teams would be represented by the NBA All-Stars, while a fourth team would be represented by the winning team of the Rising Stars Challenge composed of NBA rookies and sophomores plus NBA G League standouts. The coaches selected remain the same as previous All-Star Games, randomly assigned to one of the three All-Star teams. The remaining All-Star team and the Rising Stars team would be coached by the assistant coach from one of the head coach's NBA teams.
To ensure that a different coach represents their conference each year, there is a rule against a head coach making a consecutive appearance. Instead, the coach with the next best record is selected. This rule is known as the "Riley Rule" and was introduced in the early 1990s after the dominance of the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers team in the Western Conference, which was coached by Pat Riley.
Only Lenny Wilkens (SuperSonics, Cavaliers, and Hawks), Alex Hannum (Hawks, Warriors, and 76ers), and Doc Rivers (Celtics, 76ers, and Bucks) have represented three separate teams as the All-Star Game coach. Red Auerbach, the head coach for the Boston Celtics between 1950 and 1966, coached the most All-Star Games with 11 appearances.

## Key

| ^ | Denotes coach who is currently coaching an NBA team |
| * | Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach |
| *^ | Active NBA coach who has been elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame |
| Coach (X) | Denotes the number of times the coach has been selected, up to and including that season |

### Unconferenced format (2018–2023)

| Year | Head coach | Team | All-Star Team |
| 2018 | Dwane Casey | Toronto Raptors | Team LeBron |
| 2018 | Mike D'Antoni (2) | Houston Rockets | Team Steph |
| 2019 | Mike Budenholzer (2) | Milwaukee Bucks | Team Giannis |
| 2019 | Michael Malone^ | Denver Nuggets | Team LeBron |
| 2020 | Nick Nurse^ | Toronto Raptors | Team Giannis |
| 2020 | Frank Vogel^ (2) | Los Angeles Lakers | Team LeBron |
| 2021 | Doc Rivers^ (3) | Philadelphia 76ers | Team Durant |
| 2021 | Quin Snyder^ | Utah Jazz | Team LeBron |
| 2022 | Monty Williams^ | Phoenix Suns | Team LeBron |
| 2022 | Erik Spoelstra^ (2) | Miami Heat | Team Durant |
| 2023 | Michael Malone^ (2) | Denver Nuggets | Team LeBron |
| 2023 | Joe Mazzulla^ | Boston Celtics | Team Giannis |

### Tournament format (2025)

| Year | Head coach | Team | All-Star Team |
| 2025 | Jordan Ott | Cleveland Cavaliers | Candace's Rising Stars |
| 2025 | Mark Daigneault | Oklahoma City Thunder | Chuck's Global Stars |
| 2025 | Dave Bliss | Oklahoma City Thunder | Kenny's Young Stars |
| 2025 | Kenny Atkinson | Cleveland Cavaliers | Shaq's OGs |
Most selections
Head coach
Selections
Red Auerbach
11
1957–1967 (East)
Pat Riley
9
1982–1983; 1985–1990 (West) 1993 (East)
K. C. Jones
5
1975; 1984–1987 (East)
Fred Schaus
5
1962–1964; 1966–1967 (West)
John Kundla
4
1951–1954 (West)
Tom Heinsohn
4
1972–1974; 1976 (East)
Billy Cunningham
4
1978; 1980–1981; 1983 (East)
Lenny Wilkens
4
1979–1980 (West) 1989; 1994 (East)
Phil Jackson
4
1992; 1996 (East) 2000; 2009 (West)
George Karl
4
1994; 1996; 1998; 2010 (West)
Gregg Popovich
4
2005; 2011; 2013; 2016 (West)
Doc Rivers
4
2008; 2011; 2024 (East) 2021 (Unconferenced)
Joe Lapchick
3
1951; 1953–1954 (East)
Bill Sharman
3
1968; 1972–1973 (West)
Alex Hannum
3
1958; 1965 (West) 1968 (East)
Rick Adelman
3
1991; 2001; 2003 (West) :