When the Washington Wizards entered the offseason, their first priority was clear…find a permanent head coach. The Wizards didn’t have to look far with the decision to hire interim head coach Brian Keefe.
Keefe was officially introduced as the 26th head coach in the organization’s history at a press conference earlier this month at the Pentry Hotel in Washington, D.C. Now with the 2024 NBA Draft quickly approaching, the Wizards have all he pieces in place to decide on their #2 draft pick.
“When I think of Brian at his core, he’s someone who connects with people. He’s someone who is a teacher. He’s someone who is a developer and he’s someone who is proven and motivated,” Wizards General Manager Will Dawkins said. “Those are things that he’s always been about. Those are things he did when he was our interim coach. Those are things that he’s gonna continue do when he’s pushing us forward.”
Keefe was originally named interim head coach on January 25, 2024, with the team seeing improvement in defensive rating, overall net rating, and opponent three-point percentage over the remainder of the regular season.
Under his direction, the Wizards held opponents to the second lowest three-point percentage (34.5%) in the league. Before being named interim head coach, Keefe was in his first season with Washington, serving as the team’s lead assistant coach.
“We are aligned from ownership down to front office to coaching,” head coach Brian Keefe said. “We’re invested in finding the right way to do things, to look at every corner, to look at the best practices so we can streamline our process to be the best versions of ourselves. I think that’s a rarity in today’s sport, to get the opportunity to do this with this group, specifically with Michael and Will who I’ve known for a long time. I care tremendously about them as people first but also the way they can do their job. It’s a huge honor”
With a roster that is led by Kyle Kuzma, Jordan Poole and Bilal Coulibaly, Keefe can pick up where he left all and create more continuity moving forward.
Throughout his 16-year NBA coaching career, Keefe has been influential in the development and evolution of the careers of multiple All-Stars, All-NBA, and MVP caliber players, with stops in Brooklyn (2021-2023), Oklahoma City (2019-20 and 2007-2014), Los Angeles (2016-2019), and New York (2014-2016). Known for his extensive background in player development, multiple Wizards players improved in various statistical categories under Keefe’s guidance as interim head coach.
He started his NBA career as a video coordinator with the San Antonio Spurs in 2005. During his second season, the team won the 2007 NBA championship.
As an assistant coach, Keefe has been a part of teams that have earned playoff berths on eight occasions, including five consecutive playoff appearances (2009-2014) and a trip to the NBA Finals in 2012 with the Oklahoma City Thunder.