NBA legends with Hall of Fame coaching and playing careers

The personalities of a coach and a player are drastic, to say the least. A player must be selfish and focus on himself to get the most out of his career. A coach must put his own feelings to the side and focus on the full team, creating accommodating methods to unlock the full potential of his roster.

Some of the NBA's greatest-ever players have struggled in coaching roles, with some tarnishing their careers as players because of their failures on the sideline.

Currently, the NBA has Hall of Famer Jason Kidd coaching in Dallas, while Chauncey Billups, Steve Kerr, and Doc Rivers had standout NBA careers as players and are coaching now.

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The likes of Larry Bird, Isiah Thomas, and Jerry West are all NBA playing legends who have won over 100 games as coaches, the NBA website reports, but only five people in history have become Hall of Famers as players and coaches.

Here are the five NBA legends to be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as players and coaches!

Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell was the centerpiece of the most dominant period in NBA history, winning eleven championships in 13 seasons as a player and coach for the Celtics, according to the Naismith Hall of Fame website.

The NBA website reports that Russell won 341 games and had 290 losses as a coach, winning two NBA Championships with the Celtics and later coaching the Seattle Supersonics and Sacramento Kings before retiring in 1988.

An eight-time All-Star and four-time NBA champion in his playing days, Bill Sharman was better known for his role with the Los Angeles Lakers in his post-career than he was for his playing days with the Boston Celtics. He was inducted into the HOF as a player in 1976.

As a coach, Sharman was best known for his 1971/72 season with the Lakers, creating an NBA record of 33 wins in a row and bringing the first NBA championship as the Lakers in LA. He won 333 games as a coach and won ten NBA titles as an executive.

According to the Boston Celtics website, Tom Heinsohn was known as 'Mr. Celtic,' associating with the franchise as a coach, player, and commentator for six decades, winning eight NBA Championships as a player and two as a coach.

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Inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 1986 and 2015, Heinsohn won 427 games as a coach for the Celtics, claiming two titles and the 1973 NBA Coach of the Year. He was also the first player to score 1000 points in the NBA Finals.

Nicknamed the 'Wizard of Westwood,' John Wooden was the first player to be inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame as a player (1960) and coach (1973). Wooden played professionally in the 1930s in the National Basketball League before his coaching career, according to the Associated Press.

Wooden was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame because of his coaching career at UCLA, winning NCAA Championships in 12 years and holding a men's NCAA record of 88 consecutive wins. He is the only player on the list not to coach professional basketball.

Named in the NBA's top 75 players in 2021 and recording the third most coaching wins in the league's history, Lenny Wilkens is a true titan of the NBA in coaching and playing. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1989 and 1998 as a player and coach.

According to the NBA website, with 1332 wins as a coach, Wilkens is only behind Don Nelson and Gregg Popovich in wins. Wilkens led the Seattle Supersonics to two straight NBA Finals in 1978 and 1979, winning his only title in 1979.

Will any of the current NBA head coaches make it as Hall of Famers in coaching and playing?

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