Wizards’ Brian Keefe ranked as NBA’s least impressive coach in player survey

by · The Washington Times

Wizards coach Brian Keefe was ranked as the least impressive coach in the NBA, according to a survey of 100 of the league’s players released by The Athletic on Wednesday morning.

Washington guard Trae Young also made the list — which allowed players to rank overrated and underrated peers and coaches — as the second-most overrated player in the league.

Young, a four-time All-Star, joined the overrated list after joining the Wizards via a midseason trade from the Atlanta Hawks.

The Oklahoma product played in just 15 games this year due to a nagging leg injury. He averaged a career-low 17.9 points per game while shooting 45.8% from the field, though a minutes restriction prevented him from building much momentum.

Young had previously been voted as the most overrated player in the league at the end of the 2022-23 season. Alperen Sengun of the Houston Rockets earned that dubious honor this year, garnering 12.3% of the votes.

Keefe had earned a similarly inauspicious accolade at the end of last season, when The Athletic’s anonymous poll ranked him as the worst in the league.

“I don’t even know who’s coaching the Wizards, but whoever coaches the Wizards,” one anonymous player said in this year’s survey.

Washington made undesirable history this season when Miami Heat forward Bam Adebayo, a three-time All-Star who is widely considered a good but not great offensive player, scored 83 points in a single game against the Wizards.

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It’s the second-highest scoring total in NBA history, trailing only the legendary 100-point game of Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain.

“They should all be out of the league for that,” one player told The Athletic while giving Keefe his “least impressive” vote.

Keefe has posted a 43-160 record since taking over as an interim coach during the 2023-24 campaign. His .212 winning percentage is the worst in NBA history among coaches who were on the sideline for at least 100 games.

Washington’s front office has expressed confidence in the 50-year-old’s ability to right the ship, though.

Under Keefe, the Wizards have not been trying to compete for a postseason berth. The franchise has been focused on developing young players like Alex Sarr, Tre Johnson, Bub Carrington, Will Riley and Bilal Coulibaly to contend in the future.

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“We put him in a situation this season which was a little difficult,” Wizards general manager Will Dawkins said last month. “We led the NBA in starts for players under 21. I think we had 50-plus different starting lineups. So, we threw a lot at him.”

The Wizards have been tanking under Keefe, intentionally fielding subpar lineups with young players and G League call-ups in an effort to lose games and land better draft picks.

Washington (17-65) finished with the worst record in the league last season, guaranteeing it the top odds to land the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft lottery. The NBA will determine the draft order in Chicago on Sunday afternoon.

• Liam Griffin can be reached at lgriffin@washingtontimes.com.

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