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The conclusion of the 2019-20 NBA season is gearing up to be one of the most exciting in recent history, and the current competitiveness of the league has served as a reminder of how difficult it is to win a championship.
With front offices more impatient than ever, coaches are facing shortened windows to deliver success and only six active head coaches have steered their team to a championship.
However, even fewer head coaches were able to win a title during their respective playing careers before moving into coaching, and here we will take a look at the four head coaches that won a championship as a player.
#4 Rick Carlisle
After being selected with the 70th pick in the 1984 draft, Rick Carlisle's career in the NBA proved to be short, although the Dallas Mavericks head coach was part of the Boston Celtics' 1986 championship-winning team.
77 of Carlisle's 188 NBA appearances came during the 1985-86 regular season, and he featured 10 times during the playoffs as the Celtics overcame the Houston Rockets by 4 games to 2 in the 1986 Finals.
#3 Scott Brooks
As an undersized guard, Scott Brooks was undrafted back in 1987. Nevertheless, Brooks earned a spot on the Philadelphia 76ers roster for the 1988-89 campaign and went on to spend more than a decade in the NBA.
As a reserve guard, Brooks reached the playoffs with the Sixers, New York Knicks, Houston Rockets, and Cleveland Cavaliers - and was part of the Houston team that were crowned champions during the 1993-94 season.
He may have featured just four times during Houston's run to the Finals, but Brooks is still among the exclusive list of coaches that managed to win a ring during their playing careers.
#2 Luke Walton
Prior to getting his NBA coaching break as an assistant coach on the Golden State Warriors, Luke Walton spent 10 seasons in the league playing as a forward. Following four years at Arizona, Walton was drafted 32nd overall by the Lakers in the 2003 NBA draft, and the California native was a regular part of LA's rotation for the better part of a decade.
Playing on an LA team headlined by the late Kobe Bryant, Walton made seven trips to the playoffs during his time with the franchise, and the forward won his first title during the 2008-09 season.
Walton played 21 times during LA's postseason run as they overcame the Orlando Magic in the Finals, and he was once again part of a championship-winning side the following year as the Lakers beat the Boston Celtics in the 2010 Finals to seal the franchise's 16th NBA championship.
Walton left the Lakers in 2012 and his two titles were enough to match the tally of his Hall of Fame father Bill Walton.
#1 Steve Kerr
Steve Kerr has become one of the NBA's elite coaches over the past five years after coaching the Golden State Warriors to five consecutive NBA Finals appearances. The Warriors' trips to the Finals yielded championships in 2015, 2017, and 2018 - putting Kerr in an exclusive club of players that have won championships as a player and head coach.
During a 14-season playing career, Kerr became the best three-point shooter in NBA history, while also establishing himself as one of the most reliable backup guards of the decade. Kerr won his first title as a player in 1995-96 with the Chicago Bulls - as he famously hit the series-winner in the closing stages of Game 6 of the Finals.
Kerr and the Bulls went on to win further titles in the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons, and he also won the 1999 championship following his trade to the San Antonio Spurs. While he didn't feature much in the playoffs, Kerr was also part of the Spurs team that became champions in 2003.
