Detroit Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff will step into the role of president of the National Basketball Coaches Association, taking over for Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle.
The ex-Pistons coach announced on Monday that he would be stepping down from the role at the end of December.
“I guess now might be a good time to announce, I decided about a year ago that this would be my last year,” Carlisle said before the Pacers’ game against Boston. “This is my 20th year. My term will end at the end of this month. We’ve held our elections, and the membership has made a tremendous and phenomenal choice to succeed me, and that’s going to be J.B. Bickerstaff.”
Carlisle, 66, is good friends with Bickerstaff as the two have shared in NBA coaching circles for over two decades.
He’s continually heaped praise on the work Bickerstaff has done during his coaching career, including with the Eastern Conference-leading Pistons in just his second season with the team.
Carlisle is confident Bickerstaff, 46, will be a strong successor in the position.
“J.B. is not only a trusted friend of mine and many, many coaches, he’s proven to be a great leader,” Carlisle said. “He’s had to take over difficult situations in his career: interim coaching positions etc., etc.
“The job he did in Cleveland, taking that team from the lottery to winning in the playoffs was phenomenal. The job he’s done in Detroit the last year and a half speaks for itself. He’s a great leader and passionate guy for coaches.”
Bickerstaff started his head-coaching career in earnest with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2018 after becoming interim coach in 2017 and earning the permanent position for the next season.
After one season Bickerstaff was fired and landed an assistant coaching job with the Cleveland Cavaliers, eventually stepping up as the head coach in a full-time role. He took the Cavaliers to the playoffs in consecutive seasons in 2023 and 2024.
His firing from that role after 2024 brought Bickerstaff to the Pistons where he’s already got the franchise operating at its highest level in decades. Through 110 games, Bickerstaff holds a 66-44 record and took the Pistons to the playoffs in his first season.
Carlisle, who coached Detroit from 2001-2003, is in his 24th season as a head coach with 1,881 games combined helming the Pistons, Pacers and Dallas Mavericks.
He’s one win away from the 1,000th in his career.
During his comments on Monday, Carlisle also put forward an endorsement from J.B. Bickerstaff’s father, Bernie, to be nominated for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor.
Bernie, 81, has spent decades in the NBA as a coach and executive, now serving as an advisor to the Pistons’ coaching staff.