In an anonymous survey from The Athletic, head coach Brian Keefe was tabbed the least impressive head coach in the NBA during the 2025-26 season.
The Washington Wizards drew a mix of good and bad feedback from The Athletic's anonymous survey that analyzed votes from players and coaches on who some of the most overrated and underrated players around the NBA were. Yet maybe the worst of the news wasn't involving a player, rather the coaching staff.
Washington Wizards head coach Brian Keefe was tabbed as the least impressive coach in the NBA, drawing 22% of the votes compared to Doc Rivers, who ranked second with 14% of the votes. Rivers has also since been ousted as head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks after going 97-103 across 2.5 seasons.
“I don’t even know who’s coaching the Wizards, but whoever coaches the Wizards,” one respondent told The Athletic in response to the poll.
The Wizards' embarrassing loss against the Heat in Miami back on March 10 was among the takeaways from Keefe's standing in the poll after Bam Adebayo finished with 83 points for the second-most points scored in a game in league history.
“They should all be out of the league for that," one player said about Keefe after citing the record-breaking performance.
It marks understandable feedback for Keefe after being head coach of a Wizards team that has failed to eclipse 20 wins in each season with the organization. Keefe was named permanent head coach after initially being named the interim in relief of Wes Unseld Jr during the 2022-23 season, though Keefe also statistically ranks among the worst head coaches both in franchise and league history.
Since the start of the 2024-25 season, Keefe owns a 35-129 overall record.
Still, general manager Will Dawkins did not waste much time to squash any lingering questions and uncertainty after announcing that Keefe would return for a third season as head coach.
While the same cannot be said for the last three seasons, Keefe will enter the 2026-27 regular season with elevated expectations with a more proven roster ready to win now. While the hope is the top overall comes to fruition when the draft order is finalized on Sunday, Washington will look to add another top-five pick to the roster to a roster that has a mix of veteran leadership and youth with Trae Young and Anthony Davis joining Alex Sarr, Bilal Coulibaly and Kyshawn George among the others.
Keefe will also enter next season with a familiar face on the bench after news materialized last week that Cody Toppert, who serves as the head coach of the Wizards' G League affiliate, is expected to be promoted to an assistant coach role under Keefe in 2026-27.