How Mark Daigneault Stacks Up Against Recent All-Star Head Coaches

Daigneault and the 2024-25 Oklahoma City Thunder currently have a higher winning percentage and net rating than comparable All-Star coaches across the last five years.

Jan 16, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault gestures to his team during play against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second quarter at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault was named an official All-Star Game coach following his team's 127-101 win over the Brooklyn Nets Sunday night. Oklahoma City, which improved to 35-7 this season, clinched the Western Conference's top record by the Feb. 2, 2025, deadline.

The new All-Star format consists of a four-team exhibition tournament — Daigneault and another Thunder assistant coach will coach two teams in San Francisco on Feb. 16, 2025. Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson and one of his assistants are in great shape to lead the other two squads, as Cleveland leads the No. 2 Boston Celtics by 6.5 games with eight games remaining before the deadline.

Daigneault and the Thunder are on pace for a franchise-record 68 wins this year, which compares favorably with recent No. 1 seeds. Oklahoma City needs just four wins in its next 12 games to exceed the average All-Star head coach's winning percentage (71.3%) by the break across the last five seasons.

The 2024-25 Thunder is one of two teams — joining the 2023-24 Boston Celtics — to post a +10 net rating or higher in the 2020s. Isaiah Hartenstein will be re-evaluated for a left calf strain this week, while Chet Holmgren is set to return later this season. There are no clear-cut reasons to expect dramatic regression anytime soon.

Still, if history is an indication, Oklahoma City is unlikely to sustain its current breakneck pace all season. Seven of 10 teams whose coaches participated in the All-Star Game over the last five years experienced a lower winning percentage after All-Star Weekend concluded, while none of the remaining three improved by more than 5%.

Season	Coach	Record Before Break	Record After Break	Finals App.
2023-24	Chris Finch, MIN	39-16	17-10	No
2023-24	Doc Rivers, MIL	35-21	14-12	No
2022-23	Michael Malone, DEN	41-18	12-11	Yes
2022-23	Joe Mazzulla, BOS	42-17	15-8	No
2021-22	Monty Williams, PHX	48-10	16-8	No
2021-22	Erik Spoelstra, MIA	38-21	15-8	No
2020-21	Quin Snyder, UTA	27-9	25-11	No
2020-21	Doc Rivers, PHI	24-12	25-11	No
2019-20	Frank Vogel, LAL	41-12	11-7	Yes
2019-20	Nick Nurse, TOR	40-15	13-4	No
TOTAL	N/A	375-151, 71.3%	163-90, 64.4%	2/10

A more concerning trend appears when projecting playoff success: Two of the last 10 All-Star coaches made the NBA Finals. Frank Vogel coached the 2019-20 Los Angeles Lakers to their first championship in a decade, while Michael Malone helped secure the Denver Nuggets their first title in franchise history during the 2022-23 campaign. This tendency is slightly misleading, as Joe Mazzulla was ineligible to coach in the 2024 All-Star Game after doing so the previous year — his Celtics made the Finals last season, taking down the Dallas Mavericks in five games.

Oklahoma City has performed like a juggernaut this year, but only time will determine how Daigneault compares to his All-Star coaching contemporaries.

Daigneault and the Thunder return to action against the Utah Jazz at home this Wednesday, Jan. 22 at 7 p.m. CST.

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