For a second consecutive year, we’ll get Team LeBron vs. Team Durant at the NBA All-Star Game, as LeBron James and Kevin Durant were again the leading vote-getters in their respective conferences.
But who will be manning the sidelines?
As in years past, coaches for the 2022 NBA All-Star Game will be decided by the standings. The head coach of the team with the West’s best record on Sunday, Feb. 6 will be tabbed to coach Team LeBron while the head coach of the team with the East’s best record on Sunday, Feb. 6 will coach Team Durant.
Per NBA rules, last year’s All-Star Game coaches are ineligible to coach this year, disqualifying Jazz head coach Quin Snyder and 76ers head coach Doc Rivers.
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Who will coach in the 2022 NBA All-Star Game?
Who are the coaches for the 2022 NBA All-Star Game?
Team LeBron: Monty Williams, Suns
Fresh off of an appearance in the 2021 NBA Finals, Williams has gotten the Suns out to a historic start in his third season at the helm.
Because of their historic pace, Williams and his staff earned the right to lead Team LeBron by clinching the West’s best record through games played on Feb. 6, doing so a week ahead of time. With a win over the Spurs on Jan. 30, the Suns picked up their 10th consecutive win to move to 40-9 on the season, reaching a win total that no other Western Conference team could reach in the next week.
Williams will coach in the All-Star Game for the first time in his career and becomes the first Suns head coach to coach an All-Star Game since Mike D’Antoni in 2007. He will be joined by his coaching staff, which features Kevin Young, Mark Bryant, Bryan Gates, Brian Randle, Randy Ayers, Michael Ruffin, Steve Scalzi and Jarrett Jack.
Suns guards Devin Booker and Chris Paul will also be on hand at the 2022 NBA All-Star Game.
Team Durant: Erik Spoelstra, Heat
It came down to the final day, but the nod went to Spoelstra, whose Heat hold the East’s first seed through games played on Feb. 6.
As the top coach in the Eastern Conference, Spoelstra will coach the team selected by Nets superstar Kevin Durant.
The achievement is especially impressive for Spoelstra, as Miami has struggled to stay healthy throughout the first half of the 2021-22 campaign. That the Heat are at the top of the East standings despite barely having their full rotation this season speaks to the coaching job that Spoelstra has done.
2022 marks the second time that Spoelstra has coached the All-Star Game, with his first coming in 2013 as the coach of the Eastern Conference All-Stars.
Spoelstra, the second-longest tenured coach in the NBA, will be joined by Heat assistants Chris Quinn, Malik Allen, Caron Butler, Octavio De La Grana, Anthony Carter and Eric Glass in Cleveland.
In addition to Spoelstra, forward Jimmy Butler will represent Miami at the All-Star Game.