Last season, Mark Daigneault was the NBA Coach of the Year. This year, he’ll be coaching in the All-Star Game.
With the Thunder’s win Sunday over the Nets improving them to 35-7, Oklahoma City clinched the best record in the Western Conference through the cutoff date of Feb. 2. That means Daigneault will coach one of the four teams in the new All-Star Game format this season (and one of his assistant coaches will coach another of the teams).
Oklahoma City Thunder Head Coach Mark Daigneault and his coaching staff will serve as coaches during the 2025 NBA All-Star Game in San Francisco on Feb. 16 at Chase Center, it was announced today by the National Basketball Association.
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— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) January 20, 2025
“An honor,” Daigneault said after the game. “A huge thank you to all the people that are behind the scenes in the organization that work with the players, not only this season, but in previous seasons. This has been a build, and a lot of people have their fingerprints on that.”
The two remaining coaches will be filled by the head coach of the team with the best record in the East on Feb. 2, plus one of his assistants. While it is not yet official, it will almost certainly be Kenny Atkinson of the Cleveland Cavaliers (a team with a 6.5-game lead in the East) and one of his assistants.
The starters for the 2025 NBA All-Star Game will be announced Thursday and Daigneault’s best player, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, is a lock to get one of those spots.
Daigneault will be part of the league’s experiment with the 2025 NBA All-Star Game to inject energy and competition into the event. This year, four teams will participate in a mini-tournament. Three of those teams will be made up of NBA All-Star selections, and the fourth will be the champion of the Castrol Rising Stars competition from All-Star Friday night.
The All-Star Game is Feb. 16 at the Chase Center in San Francisco, home to the Golden State Warriors.
