can a nba coach play in a game
A player-coach is a member of team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. The term can be used to refer to both players who serve as head coaches or as assistant coaches. In the National Basketball Association (NBA), there have been 40 players who also served as their teams' head coaches at the same time. The NBA was founded in 1946 as the Basketball Association of America (BAA). The league adopted its current name at the start of the 1949--50 season when it merged with the National Basketball League (NBL). After the salary cap was instituted in 1984--85 season, the NBA has prohibited teams from employing a player-coach. The ruling was established to avoid the possibility that a team would circumvent the cap by signing a player as a player-coach, as coaches' salaries are not counted under the cap.
List of National Basketball Association player-coaches