A study sought to identify leadership styles of basketball coaches and to investigate the relationship between leadership style and criteria by which coaches select players. Thirty-seven elementary, high school, and college/professional coaches participated. Two instruments were used: the T-P Leadership questionnaire, which measures two dimensions of leadership--task oriented or people oriented, and the Least Preferred Co-Worker Scale (LPC). Findings suggested that the LPC Scale and the T-P Leadership questionnaire assessed different dimensions of leadership style. A significant inverse relationship was found between people-oriented leadership style and task-oriented leadership style. Assessment by the T-P Leadership questionnaire indicated that subjects were more concerned with winning than with developing interpersonal relationships. Results also suggested that task oriented coaches tended not to select basketball players to the guard or forward positions, based on the criteria of leadership ability. Task oriented coaches were perceived as autocratic and unwilling to share leadership authority. (JD)