NBA Assistant Coaches Typically Earn Between $200k-$400k Per Season

[RealGM Wiretap]

As the NBA resumes the 19-20 season, it is not clear which assistant coaches will travel with their teams to Orlando.

“Honestly, I don’t know if they’re gonna consider me essential,” said a veteran assistant coach. “We’ve got teams who are seven, eight coaches deep, 10 if you count the scouts. They haven’t told us if they’re taking us all. I don’t know how many of us they think they need. I am not sure I want to be there.”

While head coaches make anywhere between $1.6 million (Jim Boylen) to $11 million (Gregg Popovich), assistant coaches typically earn between $200,000 and $400,00 per season. 

Assistant coaches must weigh the risks of COVID-19 against a much lower financial gain than head coaches.

“Look, the head coaches, they’ve got plenty of reason to go back and coach and win,” said the coach. “There are only 30 head jobs. I want our team to win, too. Coaches at all levels invest a lot personally. But you start talking about the health risks and then the health risks to families? It changes the conversation. We are not getting the same level of pay as everyone else on the floor but we’re taking as much risk.”

Some believe, however, that the NBA's bubble will be safer than the general population.

“There are going to be a lot of tests,” said a Western Conference assistant coach. “Those are tests I was not getting on my own. There is going to be a sealed environment, there is not going to be a lot of exposure. I mean, look at what has happened around the country as states have opened things up. You have people crowding on beaches and in bars and in stores. That’s probably going to be dangerous. We’re not going to be dealing with that for, maybe a few months.”

Via Sean Deveney/Sporting News

[Cassius]

I think max of two assistants per team is all you'd really need in person, along with one health professional who could liaise with a centralized team of league doctors/therapists taking orders directly from the team reps. I would hope that technology would make it possible for the rest of the coaching, training and film staffs to do their jobs remotely.

[720]

The person that said this is so out of touch with reality. Sure you aren’t making as much as the head coach and the players but you still make 4-8 times more than the average essential worker that is being forced to work in such conditions. Have an understanding of your surroundings. Sheesh.

[The_Hater]

The person that said this is so out of touch with reality. Sure you aren’t making as much as the head coach and the players but you still make 4-8 times more than the average essential worker that is being forced to work in such conditions. Have an understanding of your surroundings. Sheesh.

I didn’t read this as some asst complaining about their pay grade, I read it as somebody wondering if they’re going to be essential enough to be invited to Orlando and subsequently not get paid at all.

[720]

The person that said this is so out of touch with reality. Sure you aren’t making as much as the head coach and the players but you still make 4-8 times more than the average essential worker that is being forced to work in such conditions. Have an understanding of your surroundings. Sheesh.

I didn’t read this as some asst complaining about their pay grade, I read it as somebody wondering if they’re going to be essential enough to be invited to Orlando and subsequently not get paid at all.

I thought the same except then he says he doesn’t know how many coaches are necessary and that he doesn’t want to be there. Then this quote “ I want our team to win, too. Coaches at all levels invest a lot personally. But you start talking about the health risks and then the health risks to families? It changes the conversation. We are not getting the same level of pay as everyone else on the floor but we’re taking as much risk.”

To which I say buddy, you’re making 200-400 thousand dollars a year. If the league wants you back in there you better go. If not then don’t expect to be paid. The “risk” he’s taking is a lot less than average folk that need their 9-5.