With their playing career often fueled by singular talent and ruthless competitiveness, these legendary players found those traits to be mostly a deterrent in their subsequent attempts at coaching in the NBA.
1) George Mikan (Lakers, 1957-1958)
The Peter Principle is an axiom of the business world that employees being promoted solely for their achievements will eventually reach a position for which they're unqualified. And so it goes in the NBA, where the skills and competencies of a great player do not necessarily translate to that of a head coach. In fact, with rare exceptions such as Lenny Wilkens and Bill Sharman, the determined and stubborn personality of most great players seems to actually be a detriment to their coaching career. Mikan, the NBA's original megastar, was the first example of this. After losing a U.S. House of Representatives race in 1956 (running as a Republican), he was coaxed by John Kundla, his former coach and then Lakers general manager, to return to coach the team in '57-'58. Despite the presence of his former teammate Vern Mikkelsen as the team's star, the Mikan coaching tenure was an absolute disaster, with the team starting 9-30 before Kundla came back to take over coaching duties. Minneapolis finished 19-53 that season, which stood as the worst winning percentage in franchise history for almost 50 years (finally broken by the back-to-back disasters of '14-'15 and '15-'16). Mikan returned to his law career, but would later come back to the world of pro basketball as the original commissioner of the ABA.
2) Magic Johnson (Lakers, 1993-1994)
After his playing career abruptly ended in 1991, Johnson has spent the last 25+ years applying his mirthful personality and competitive spirit to varying endeavors. Some of these have succeeded, such as his inspirational HIV activism, business enterprises, and ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Others have been less than stellar efforts, such as his widely-panned foray into late night television, his brief playing comeback in '95-'96, and his coaching career. The '93-'94 Lakers were a shell of the Showtime heyday, with Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Michael Cooper retired, Byron Scott gone, and James Worthy aging in dog years. New coach Randy Pfund was looking to rebuild around Vlade Divac and Nick Van Exel, but after the team got off to a rough start owner Jerry Buss essentially strong-armed Magic into returning to the Forum as coach. Johnson would later admit himself that he was in over his head and he did little to stem the tide of the worst Lakers season since Mikan's short coaching tenure. Los Angeles finished 5-11 down the stretch with Johnson as coach and missed the playoffs for the first time in 18 years. Veteran Del Harris was brought in to coach for the next season and Johnson happily returned to his movie theater business and public speaking gigs. His later career as Lakers president, starting in 2017, lasted a little bit longer but didn't end any more successfully.
3) Dan Issel (Nuggets, 1992-1995 and 1999-2001)
One of the top centers of the '70s, Issel was renowned as a scoring machine for the Nuggets but never exactly heralded for his leadership or oratory skills. It was somewhat of a surprise when Denver announced that they lured Issel away from his retirement horse farm in Kentucky to take over as head coach for the '92-'93 season. Coming off a last place finish the year before, Denver was looking to rebuild around Dikembe Mutombo and Issel had some initial success, including leading the Nuggets to a shocking first round upset over Seattle in 1994. But by the middle of the '94-'95 season his abrasive style had worn on the players. Sensing that his roster was quitting on him, Issel stepped aside as coach, turning over the reigns to assistant Gene Littles and staying within the organization in a front office position. Three years later Issel took over as Denver's general manager and his first big move was one of the worst draft selections in recent history, taking Raef LaFrentz third overall instead of Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, Dirk Nowitzki, or Paul Pierce. With his constructed roster struggling under coach Mike D'Antoni during the strike-shortened '99-'00 season, Issel installed himself as coach again, this time with even more disastrous results. The team failed to make the playoffs in his first two seasons, and his players openly boycotted a practice that Issel had scheduled as a punitive measure in response to what he considered lackadaisical play. A final straw came in December of 2001, when a TV camera caught Issel directing racist insults towards a heckling Latino fan. He swiftly stepped down as not just coach but also as team president, and has not been heard from in the coaching or executive ranks since.
4) Bob Cousy (Royals, 1969-1974)
Renowned in his playing days for his work ethic and professionalism, Cousy was one of many former players who struggled to connect with younger generations as a coach (it's worth noting that this was a standard endemic for men of his age in general, who came of age in the conservative '50s and then found themselves managing young people in the turbulent '70s). When Cousy took over the Royals in 1969, they were three years removed from their last winning season and after Cousy's five seasons in charge -- three in Cincinnati, then two in Kansas City/Omaha -- they were eight years removed from their last winning season. All told, the Royals were 141-207 under Cousy's watch, though, to be fair, much of that had to do with the trading away of Oscar Robertson. Though Cousy's tenure had plenty of lowlights, easily the most embarrassing came in his first season as coach when the 41-year-old played in seven games as a player-coach in an attempt to improve lagging ticket sales. The ploy didn't work out, and after the team was sold in the wake of those financial issues and moved from Cincinnati to Kansas City, Cousy was quickly jettisoned. His replacement, Phil Johnson, managed to guide the Royals back to the playoffs in his first full year as coach. Cousy had been a successful coach at Boston College, a job he had taken immediately after his retirement as a player, but admitted later that he was in over his head coaching in the NBA, and had accepted the job mainly for the paycheck.
5) Elgin Baylor (Jazz, 1976-1979)
One could make a convincing argument that Bob Cousy's failures as a coach had as much to do with racial relations in America in the '70s as they did with generational gaps or cult of personality. But a solid counterpoint exists in the examination of Elgin Baylor's brief and wildly unsuccessful foray into coaching later in the decade. Though he's considered one of the greatest overall players of all time, one thing Baylor was never known for was his defense, and it's only appropriate that the teams he coached struggled mightily on that end of the floor. This was especially punctuated by the presence of Baylor's star player, the notably defensively deficient Pete Maravich. Baylor started off as an assistant coach for the New Orleans Jazz in 1974 and took over during the '76-'77 season when his boss, Butch Van Breda Kolff was fired. New Orleans missed the playoffs in all three seasons that Baylor was in charge, including a dead last finish in the standings in his final campaign. One thing that he was surprisingly successful at was keeping Maravich happy. The mercurial star was notorious for feuding with coaches at every level of play, but seemed deferential to Baylor out of respect and reverence for his playing talents. Baylor was fired after the '78-'79 season, as the team cleaned house in preparation for the move to Utah. He would later describe his departure from the Jazz as "being let out of prison," but seemingly stepped into yet another Alcatraz soon after, when he began his longtime stint as general manager of the Clippers, working under Donald Sterling.
6) Willis Reed (Knicks, 1977-1979; Nets, 1987-1989)
He retired in 1974 as the most legendary Knick in history (a title he still arguably holds), and with the franchise struggling in the wake of that decision, it's no surprise they asked Reed to return as a coaching savior three years later. Granted, he supposedly wasn't their first choice, as the Knicks only offered him the position after his former teammate, Bill Bradley, turned it down. Adding insult to that injury, ownership immediately dismayed Reed by trading his other former star teammate Walt Frazier to Cleveland. Inheriting a team that had missed the playoffs two years running and was now relying on rookie Ray Williams at point guard, Reed actually did an admirable job, leading them to the second round of the postseason in '77-'78, paced by great performances from veterans Bob McAdoo and Earl Monroe. Things got off to a slow start the next season thanks in large part to a contract dispute that was causing Monroe to hold out, but when the team came out of the gate at 6-8, Reed was unfairly fired and replaced with his former coach Red Holzman. After coaching at Creighton for a few seasons and working as an assistant under Bill Russell on the Kings, Reed got a second chance as a head coach for the Nets in '87-'88. Struggling to connect with a roster headlined by Joe Barry Carroll and Dennis Hopson, Reed was once again quickly fired when the team didn't immediately improve. He has not coached at the pro level since, but was supposedly offered another chance at the Knicks job in 2004 before it was ultimately given to Lenny Wilkens.
7) Wes Unseld (Bullets, 1987-1994)
A Rookie of the Year, MVP, and Finals MVP in his 13-year career all spent with the Bullets, Unseld was basically offered the keys to the franchise when he retired in 1981. Starting as the team's vice president and simultaneously a TV analyst, Unseld decided to also take over as coach during the '87-'88 season when the Bullets got off to a slow start under his former teammate Kevin Loughery. Helming a really interesting roster on paper, featuring veterans Moses Malone and Bernard King, and youngsters Muggsy Bogues and Manute Bol, Unseld guided the team to its fifth straight first round playoff loss in 1988. What felt like a failure at the time would actually come to seem like a heyday in retrospect, as the Bullets would miss the playoffs entirely in Unseld's next six full seasons as coach. They at least remained entertaining for a while, with King and Jeff Malone lighting up the scoreboard, but by the '91-'92 season the team was stuck in a complete rut with no cohesion or direction under Unseld. Perhaps the greatest microcosm of his coaching career is when his team was expressing confusion over defensive assignments during a game and he supposedly threw up his hands and responded "I don't know, they all look alike to me." He was mercifully fired in 1994 but was such a franchise legend and likable personality that the Bullets rehired him as general manager in 1996. Unseld fared a little better as a GM than he did as a coach, up until stepping aside in 2003 due to failing health. His son, Wes, Jr., has been an assistant coach for several years with the Magic and Nuggets.
8) Maurice Cheeks (Blazers, 2001-2005; 76ers, 2005-2009; Pistons, 2013-2014)
A fearless and charismatic floor general for the 76ers throughout the '80s, Cheeks struggled to find that same composure and leadership in his coaching days. Regularly pegged throughout his career as a "future coach," Cheeks waited just two years after retirement to move into the coaching ranks, as an assistant under John Lucas with the Sixers. After Lucas was replaced by Larry Brown, the popular belief was that Cheeks was being groomed to be the next man up, but he instead opted to leave his longtime franchise in 2001 and coach Portland. Eager to shed their "Jail Blazers" persona while still maintaining a winning culture, Portland looked to the magnanimous Cheeks to get a roster under control that included notable head cases Rasheed Wallace, Ruben Patterson, and Shawn Kemp. After first round playoff exits in 2002 and 2003, management decided to clean house on the roster, and Cheeks now had to rebuild around the difficult youngster Zach Randolph. When that plan inevitably didn't work out, Cheeks was fired late in the '04-'05 season. In what seemed like potential destiny, he returned to Philadelphia just months later to take over as head coach for Bill O'Brien. But despite the more familiar surroundings, he didn't fare much better in this second chance, as the Sixers struggled to compete in the waning days of the Allen Iverson era and veteran players were supposedly not enamored with his coaching personality. After four seasons without any improvement, he was fired again and replaced by Tony DiLeo. The third time was also not the charm for Cheeks, who coached for the Pistons in '13-'14, but couldn't last the entire season as the young team struggled. He has since been working with the Thunder as an assistant coach, and possibly biding his time for a fourth opportunity. One positive enduring legacy of his coaching days is a memorable moment in 2003, when he stepped in and assisted a young girl who was stumbling over the lyrics to the national anthem before a game.
9) Dolph Schayes (76ers, 1963-1966; Braves, 1970-1971)
His star player, Wilt Chamberlain, once described him as "too nice to be a coach," and sure enough he built a reputation for letting his players run roughshod over him and making too many coaching decisions based on avoiding confrontation. That description of him is an important one to note, because Chamberlain's disapproval of Schayes' coaching is supposedly the reason he was fired after three years at the helm of the Sixers, despite just having won the NBA Coach of the Year award in 1966. Whether or not Chamberlain's actions were appropriate (or even actually happened, as it is just conjecture) they did find some legitimacy in retrospect, when the Sixers finally won the NBA title the year after Schayes was dismissed. He returned to coaching four years later for the newly formed Buffalo Braves. Expectations were low for a team lacking any star players but it was still a disappointment when they finished the season 22-60. The next year, Schayes earned the unwanted distinction of being the only NBA coach ever fired just one game into a season, replaced by Johnny McCarthy (who didn't fare any better as the Braves finished an identical 22-60 again that season). In between his coaching stints, Schayes served as supervisor of NBA referees from 1966 to 1970.
10) Dave Cowens (Hornets, 1996-1999; Warriors, 2000-2002)
In 1978 he followed in the footsteps of his Celtics big man forebear, Bill Russell, taking over as player-coach for Boston after former teammate Satch Sanders was fired as head coach. It was an aging Celtics team, just three seasons removed from an NBA title but on the last legs of their '70s era greatness (and waiting for recently drafted Larry Bird to finish college and join the team), and they limped to a 29-53 record, their worst season in 29 years. Cowens was replaced by long-time Cavaliers coach Bill Fitch, and went back to just playing the next season, his final year with the Celtics. One would think his brief unsuccessful sojourn into coaching would sour him on the procedure but there he was 15 years later returning to the ranks as an assistant with the Spurs and then head coach of the Charlotte Hornets starting in 1996. The Hornets had built a solid veteran core around Vlade Divac, Glen Rice, and Anthony Mason, and were looking for a respectable coach. They finished a solid 54-28 in Cowens' first season but fell to the Knicks in a first round sweep. In his second year they did get a playoff series win over the Hawks, but were swept in the second round by Michael Jordan's Bulls. With Cowens' short temper starting to wear on his players and his general interest in coaching waning, he quit just 15 games into the '98-'99 season and was replaced by his former Celtics teammate Paul Silas. He could have called it quits for good right there and left a decent-if-unspectacular coaching legacy, but instead Cowens was enticed back to the coaching ranks by the Warriors a year later. He took over a team that had compiled a putrid 19-63 record the year before and managed to make things even worse, going just 17-65 in his first season. He was fired by Golden State when the team got off to a 8-15 start in '01-'02.
11) Wilt Chamberlain (Conquistadors, 1973-1974)
Wilt Chamberlain as head coach was the kind of stunt that only the ABA could facilitate. There was very little about the Big Dipper's playing career that indicated he was coaching material. When he retired from the Lakers in 1973, the opportunistic San Diego Conquistadors of the ABA came calling anyway, asking him to take over as player-coach. The Lakers served a successful injunction, claiming that Chamberlain couldn't play for another pro team because he had left one year of his contract with Los Angeles on the table, so he took over as just the coach instead. The Conquistadors had actually found some success in their maiden season, '72-'73, reaching the playoffs despite a losing record, but attendance lagged as the season crawled on. They brought in Wilt to drum up some interest, and ended up with essentially an extremely tall, extremely indifferent figure head patrolling the sidelines. He left most of the day-to-day responsibilities to his assistant, Stan Albeck, and even once skipped a game for an autograph session for his impeccably titled autobiography, Just Like Any Other Seven-Foot Millionaire Who Lives Next Door. Unimpressed by the continued poor attendance despite the team making the second round of the playoffs, Chamberlain quit the Conquistadors after the season and never took up coaching again, moving on to various other business ventures.
12) Isiah Thomas (Pacers, 2000-2003; Knicks, 2006-2008)
He was one of the true coaching disasters of the modern era, and the fact that Thomas survived two full seasons with the Knicks is a testament to just how poorly that once-great franchise has been managed in this century. Though a solid floor leader and highly competitive spirit, Thomas also had a reputation as a dirty and temperamental player who often alienated teammates and opponents alike. Does this sound like a man who should be given a head coaching job? It did to the Pacers, who gave him the position in 2000, after Thomas had already burned through disastrous engagements as vice president of the Toronto Raptors and owner of the now-defunct, poorly managed Continental Basketball Association. He inherited a team in transition, as the defending Eastern Conference champs were trying to rebuild around Jermaine O'Neal and Al Harrington. It certainly wasn't the easiest situation to enter, but Thomas managed to mold a talented roster into a mediocre first round playoff loser in three straight seasons. After Bird was hired as Indiana's vice president in 2003, he immediately fired Thomas and replaced him with Rick Carlisle. Thomas soon accepted a job as Knicks President of Basketball Operations, making all the relevant roster decisions, most of which were disasters. This included trading two lottery picks for an overweight Eddy Curry, handing over huge contracts to role players Jared Jeffries and Jerome James, and trading away all his cap room for the bloated contracts of aging vets Stephon Marbury and Penny Hardaway. Most egregious, however, was 2006 when he helped make the decision to fire the legendary Larry Brown and insert himself as coach. Thomas was unable to force any success out of this unwieldy monstrosity of a roster he had created, and amassed a 46-98 record over two seasons before finally getting fired as both coach and president.
13) Larry Bird (Pacers 1997-2000)
This is one case where the statistical record of note tells a different story from the exit interviews. Per empirical data, Bird was actually a great coach. He probably only vaguely belongs on this list, falling under the guise of using the word "struggled" in the title as opposed to "failed." Because although he was named Coach of the Year for '97-'98 (becoming the only player in NBA history with an MVP and COY trophy) and led the Pacers to their first NBA Finals in franchise history in 2000, it was, by all accounts, a struggle throughout for Bird. Perhaps the three-year self-imposed moratorium he put on his coaching stint was a blessing, as his players were starting to complain anonymously and behind closed doors about his strict regulations and meticulous attention to details. It's only fitting that those traits defined Bird the coach the same way they defined Bird the player, a man who has struggled with needing to reach perfection throughout his career at every level.