Top 10 NBA coach salaries of all time

#3 Tom Thibodeau - $8 million

Portland Trail Blazers v Minnesota Timberwolves

One of the most intense characters ever associated with the NBA, Thibodeau's story in basketball is one of deep love, commitment and hard work. Working in a variety of coaching roles starting in 1981 with Salem State University, Thibodeau worked his way up to the point when he was appointed as an assistant coach with expansion team Minnesota, incidentally.

2-year spells with the Spurs and the 76ers followed in roughly the same capacity, before Jeff van Gundy invited him to join forces with the Knicks. 8 years of relative success with the Knicks led to him being appointed by Daryl Morey as the Houston Rockets' defensive guru from 2004-07.

Their success in that department (the Rockets ranked among the top 10 defenses in the league during Thibodeau's time) was enough for Doc Rivers and the Celtics to poach him in 2007 as an associate head coach. The Celtics' league-best defense for the 3-year spell from 2007 to 2010 was largely a product of Thibs' influence.

On June 2, 2010, Thibodeau interviewed with and was confirmed as the Bulls' head coach shortly after. Thibodeau was named the NBA Coach of the Year after tying the record for most wins by a rookie head coach with 62 in the season that followed. He also led the Bulls to their first 50-win season and first division title since the Michael Jordan era.

5 years with the Bulls saw them make the playoffs every single season before Thibs encountered some friction with the front office, leading to him getting fired. He took a break from coaching activity for a year, before the Timberwolves handed him a coach-cum-executive role, which gave him the payday we refer to here.