Who Is Considered "Active"?
Defining "Active" Status: Coaches & Players
On Basketball Reference, players and coaches are defined as active or inactive according to the following guidelines.
Coaches
On the coaches register, only currently active head coaches are bolded.
- The number of bolded names can never exceed the number of head coaching positions. If there are 30 teams, no more than 30 coaches are bolded. If 8 of those jobs are vacant, only 22 names are bolded.
- A former head coach who is still working in the NBA as an assistant or an executive is not considered "active" for the purposes of the head coaching register.
- The same rules apply to WNBA coaches.
Players
A player is considered active for a given season if they are under contract at any point during the league year (which generally runs from July 1 through June 30).
What counts as under contract:
- Standard contracts
- Camp deals
- Two-way contracts
G-League players are considered active NBA players, provided they have an NBA page. Playing in the G-League for less money than they could earn overseas signals that a player is still pursuing an NBA career.
A player is marked inactive immediately, regardless of contract status, if they:
- Die
- Retire
- Are banned from the league
Players overseas: A former NBA player currently playing overseas is not considered active, unless they return to the NBA or the G-League.
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