In NBA, the most recognizable people of any franchise would be the players. They are the face of the team, so that makes a lot of sense. This might be true, but there are other people who deserve credit for both their losses and victories. It would not be right to forget about the coaches! After all, they are the ones to draw up plays and prepare the teams for their upcoming games. Even though they are not playing ball on the paint, they are responsible for guiding the team in a certain direction. These are the best head coaches in the history of the NBA! It is not an exaggeration to say that they have changed the game during their time in this position.
Mike D’Antoni
He heads a lot of talented teams, but he is criticized for how they underachieve. Despite this, it is hard to ignore just how much Mike D’Antoni has changed the game. Under his guidance, the Phoenix Suns operated with a ‘7 seconds or less’ mantra. He also introduced position-less basketball and a style that valued efficiency and pace. These days, other people are following in his footsteps and doing the same thing. He is truly a genius when it comes to offense!
Mike D’Antoni
Gene Shue
Back in the day, Gene Shue was known as a great player during his days with the Knicks, Bullets, and Pistons. Once he stopped playing on the court, he decided to focus on coaching instead. He has coached five different teams over the course of 24 years. The two-time NBA Coach of the Year awardee ended his career with a total of 784 victories. He has received credit as one of the pioneers of plays that had an emphasis on three-point shooting.
Gene Shue
John MacLeod
Any basketball fan will know that John MacLeod had a long, fruitful coaching career. He started with the Oklahoma Sooners but later coached the Suns, Knicks, and Mavericks. It was followed by nine years at Notre Dame. He also took on assistant coaching jobs with the Suns, Warriors, and Nuggets. He had 707 career victories to his name and took his teams to 11 playoffs. Sadly, he passed away on April 14, 2019.
John MacLeod
Bill Russell
If you are pretty young, you might not know that Bill Russell led the Celtics to two NBA Championships as a player-coach. On top of that, he made history as the first black coach in the league. When he was in Beantown, he gave the Celtics two titles in a span of three years. Later on, he served as the head coach of the Sacramento Kings and the Seattle SuperSonics.
Bill Russell
Dick McGuire
His stats as head coach might not be super amazing, Dick McGuire still gets credit as the most popular Knick in the history of the team. During his time on the paint, he was an All-Star pick five times. Aside from this, he also led the franchise to three consecutive Finals. He spent four seasons as the head coach.
Dick McGuire
Rick Carlisle
A lot of people say that he looks like Jim Carrey, and we agree! He is actually quite a decent coach. These days, Rick Carlisle is one of the most brilliant minds in the league. He always produces well-coach teams with sound fundamentals. His plays have a nuanced acumen that you will not find anywhere else at the moment. He has led his teams to thirteen playoffs since 2001. How on earth can we forget that the Dallas Mavericks brought home the NBA Championship title during the 2010-2011 season?
Rick Carlisle
Cotton Fitzsimmons
Not only does he have the coolest nickname in sports history, but Lowell Fitzsimmons was also a great coach. Called Cotton, he truly excelled in every single way possible. He had experience coaching teams at both junior college and college levels. He later moved on to the NBA and spent 30 years coaching in the league. Did you know that he is in the 15th spot when it comes to career wins? You can probably see why he deserved the two NBA Coach of the Year awards he received.
Cotton Fitzsimmons
Les Harrison
Here is another guy who was a true trailblazer in the basketball scene. Les Harrison even started his own franchise, the Rochester Royals. In the end, the team moved from the NBL to the NBA. After that, he led the team to an NBA championship in 1951. Did you know that he was the first person to sign an African-American pro basketball player? That person was none other than Dolly King. In 1980, Harrison was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Les Harrison
Erik Spoelstra
Also known as “Spo,” he deserves tons of credit for jazzing things up with the Miami Heat. Erik Spoelstra started out working as a video coordinator in his youth. It is neat to hear that he climbed the ladder until he became a coach. He led the franchise to multiple titles and managed legends like Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, and Lebron James. If you need more proof, know that Pat Riley gave him the stamp of approval!
Erik Spoelstra
Rick Adelman
He might not have won an NBA championship, but Rick Adelman is still one of the greatest coaches in the league. From 1983 to 2014, he held different coaching positions in the league. Among other things, he worked with the Portland Trail Blazers and the Sacramento Kings. In the latter, he managed teams made up of ballers like Vlade Divac, Chris Webber, and Peja Stojakovic. On the other hand, he helped the Trail Blazers reach the Finals. Before he retired, he achieved 1,042 career victories.
Rick Adelman
Bill Sharman
It is not a secret that Bill Sharman was a great player. If you are a fan of the Celtics, you might know him as a very skilled baller. He was not a shabby coach either! In fact, he guided teams to the Finals five different times. During his time with Utah, they bagged an ABA Championship. The Lakers also brought home an NBA title under him. By the end of his coaching career, he had a winning percentage of .569.
Bill Sharman
Tom Heinsohn
Here is another person who helped elevate the legacy of the Boston Celtics. The franchise has 17 titles under its belt, and Tom Heinsohn is the only guy who was involved in all of them in one way or another. He served as a player, coach, and commentator for the team at different points of his career. As a coach, he helped them reach six playoffs and two NBA titles. He had a career winning percentage of .619!
Tom Heinsohn
Billy Cunningham
On the other hand, the 76ers would not be the same if it were not for Billy Cunningham. He played ball for Philadelphia for almost an entire decade before he became its head coach. With players like Moses Malone and Julius Erving, he guided the franchise to eight consecutive appearances at the playoffs. Not only that, but he also guided the team to two division titles and an NBA title.
Billy Cunningham
Rudy Tomjanovich
As a five-time All-Star, Rudy Tomjanovich was no slouch during his playing days. Even so, his career as a coach is even more renowned. Not long after his playing days ended, he joined the Rockets as a scout. In 1992, he became the head coach and would hold this position in Houston for twelve seasons. In ’94 and ’95, he even led the franchise to back-to-back NBA titles. As a player, people took notice of his feisty play. As a coach, he was popular for his energy and ability to speak his mind.
Rudy Tomjanovich
Alex Hannum
In reality, Alex Hannum did not have the best career as a player. In 1948, he was undrafted and went on to average no more than 6.0 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in the course of a decade. It was a good thing that he found his calling in life after that. During his first year as the St. Louis Hawks coach, the team made it to the NBA Finals. The following year, the franchise won its first and only title. He coached for 30 years and managed 13 future Hall of Famers such as Wilt Chamberlain, Bob Pettit, and Rick Barry.
Alex Hannum
Dick Motta
Have you ever heard of Dick Motta before? If not, we bet you are familiar with an understudy of his. His coaching tree includes the likes of Danny Ainge, Mark Jackson, Jason Kidd, Mitch Kupchak, Scott Brooks, Phil Jackson, and Jerry Sloan. He was a fantastic coach. In 1978, the Washington Bullets brought home an NBA title under his guidance. His legacy in the sport was felt by many top-tier coaches in the league.
Dick Motta
George Karl
We would have ranked him a lot higher on the list if any of his teams brought home an NBA title. Sadly, George Karl had the bad luck of failing to meet this goal. Even so, we can’t deny just how good of a coach he was. He was the definition of coaching consistency! From 1991 to 2013, he only missed the postseason once. He also got to one NBA Finals and four Conference Finals. Among the head coaches in the history of the NBA, he holds the sixth most wins. It goes without saying that he is a coaching icon!
George Karl
Doc Rivers
In our opinion, Doc Rivers is one of the best motivators in NBA history. He is a “player’s coach” who has earned the respect of many people in the league. He has been consistent in the past decade as well. In 2008, he achieved his greatest feat by helping the Boston Celtics win a title. He also crafted a brand-new team within a single year. While he has not reached the finals since 2010, he is still an excellent coach.
Doc Rivers
K.C. Jones
When he was playing for the Boston Celtics, K.C. Jones proved his worth by raking in eight championship titles. Not long after he retired as a player, he landed a position on the coaching staff of the franchise. In 1983, he finally took over the role of head coach. He spent eight seasons in this position and brought the team to the NBA Finals a total of five times. Moreover, they won two of those! It was a short coaching career that abruptly ended in Seattle in 1992. Despite this, he made a huge impact on the league.
K.C. Jones
Jack Ramsay
Regardless of the level, Jack Ramsay ruled the scene during his coaching days. He led St. Joseph’s to a Final Four appearance in 1961. Seven years after this feat, he took on the head coach position for the 76ers. He had a solid run with both Buffalo and Philadelphia until he joined the staff of the Trail Blazers. By the time that he retired, the number of his combined wins in college and pro basketball was higher than any other coach. In 1992, he received the honor of being inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Jack Ramsay
Jerry Sloan
Before Phil Jackson entered the Bulls, Jerry Sloan had a brief coaching stint with the team. His biggest accomplishments in the sport happened when he was the lead man of the Utah Jazz in 1988. During his first 15 seasons as a coach, the team reached the postseason without fail. They also boasted ten 50-plus win seasons and reached the NBA Finals twice during this span of time. In the end, they failed to beat the Bulls. Take note that this was the era of Jordan, Jackson, and Pippen. Even so, we are amazed at how he led such a desolate team and made them go toe-to-toe with one of the greatest teams in history.
Jerry Sloan
Bill Fitch
While he has since been surpassed by others, Bill Fitch ended his coaching career on a high note. At the time, he had the most games coached and the second-highest number of games won in the league. He was the head coach when the Celtics made it to the NBA Finals in 1981. He got the Coach of the Year award twice, once each with the Cavs and the Celtics. It was cool to see how he could turn the tide for lowly teams since each one of them had more games in his first year as a coach than the previous season.
Bill Fitch
John Kundla
Before the Boston Celtics dominated the NBA, John Kundla and the Minneapolis Lakers were the first dynasty in the NBA. He served as the coach of the franchise from 1949 to 1954. During that period of time, the team bagged five NBA championships. He kept coaching for five more years but never fetched a sixth title. At any rate, he is still one of the best postseason coaches the league has ever seen.
John Kundla
Lenny Wilkens
Do you know who the second winningest coach in history is? It is none other than Lenny Wilkens with his 1,332 career wins. He was the coach of six teams over the course of his career. He saw the most success with the Seattle Supersonics. In 1978, he led them to their first appearance at the NBA Finals. The year after that, they brought home the first and only title of the franchise. Wilkens made history for coaching more games than anyone in the league. He was also the first coach to win a thousand games.
Lenny Wilkens
Don Nelson
If you are a fan of the up-tempo guard-heavy, three-point centric style of this day, you should thank Don Nelson for that. He was a pioneer of the modern game, which put emphasis on speed and shooting over size. He went on to coach some good teams, but his style was best seen with the Run ‘TMC’ Warriors from the ‘90s and the ‘We Believe’ Warriors from the 2000s. It was a lot of fun to see them play since they made it hard to beat their offensive end. If he had players with more talent, we are sure that he could have helped a team bring home several titles. His attacks were just that innovative.
Don Nelson
Larry Brown
With his resume, Larry Brown can go toe-to-toe with other legends in the game. He is the only coach who has won both an NCAA and an NBA title. As an aside, he also won an ABA title when he was still a player. He was named Coach of the Year at both the pro and collegiate level. He has seen a lot of success with a number of teams. He has been inducted into the Pro and College Basketball Halls of Fame.
Larry Brown
Steve Kerr
There is no arguing with the results. True, Steven Kerr has been lucky enough to coach one of the best teams out there. But it is his ability to adjust and keep the team ready despite a great track record is what makes him so great. There are times when the Warriors have to slog through the season, but they do not seem complacent when it matters. At .785, he has the best winning percentage out there. He has yet to back down from matchups with older coaches with more experience either. His career will likely be even more legendary in the future.
Steve Kerr
Red Holzman
This Bronx native introduced a certain confidence and bravado to the world of coaching. It was unlike anything we have seen in the past. Red Holzman was truly wise beyond his years. When he was coaching the New York Knicks, he made a name for himself as a brilliant coach. He was one of the few people to win a title both as a player and as a coach. He clearly had what it took to lead a team to the height of success. Under his guidance, the Knicks actually won two titles. In 1985, he became a Hall of Famer.
Red Holzman
Chuck Daly
We all know about the ‘Bad Boy’ Pistons from the ‘80s. Chuck Daly can be considered the architect of that era. He is very underrated these days. He played a key role when Detroit brought home the NBA title in ’89 and ’90. We bet that the back-to-back victories would have gone up if the front office did not break up the team. Daly is a talented Olympic coach who guided the 1992 Dream Team to a gold medal.
Chuck Daly
Pat Riley
In 1981, Pat Riley took on the head coach position for the Los Angeles Lakers. This led to the birth of the ‘Showtime’ Lakers. The team was led by legendary point guard Magic Johnson. Riley had an up-tempo offense that dominated the league, resulting in four title wins in a single decade. He used his skills to bring glory to the New York Knicks as well. He helped the team earn its first appearance in the NBA Finals in two decades. Even though he did not win them a title, he did pick up his fifth and last one with the Miami Heat. In 2006, Shaquille O’Neal and Dwyane Wade did very well under his guidance. Riley is still active in the basketball scene and serves as the President of Basketball Operations for the franchise.
Pat Riley
Gregg Popovich
It is important for a coach to make the most out of what they have. Fair enough, the San Antonio Spurs was a powerhouse with talents like Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Kawhi Leonard, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili. However, Gregg Popovich deserves a lot of credit for remaining competitive even without this amazing set of players. The Spurs have not missed the playoffs since 1997, a year before Duncan joined the league. They have since brought home five NBA titles. The whole core turned over more times than we can count. It does not matter which starters the team has on any given occasion. As long as Popovich is there, he will do his best to guide the team to greatness. This is what it takes to be a good coach!
Gregg Popovich
Red Auerbach
A lot of people think that this name means the same thing as winning. Red Auerbach is a long-time coach for the Boston Celtics. As head coach, he brought home nine titles. This includes eight consecutive wins from 1959 to 1966. You will find plenty of coaches who will call him an inspiration. To this day, his teachings remain in use. He has a lifetime winning percentage of .662, which is amazing enough on its own. It is not hard to understand why so many people hold him in high regard.
Red Auerbach
Phil Jackson
The Zen Master is at the top of our list. After all, no one has won at the highest level more often than he has. He had a good time as a player in the NBA, but he eventually transitioned into coaching instead. In 1989, he landed the head coach position for the Bulls. During his time as coach of the Los Angeles Lakers and the Chicago Bulls, he won eleven titles. We are sure that it helps that he had Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kobe Bryant on his side. If you ask us, his best trait was how he managed colorful personalities like Metta World Peace. To this day, the ‘King of Rings’ rules the coaching scene.
Phil Jackson
Richie Guerin
Although he did not mentor the Atlanta Hawks to the only champions league of the franchise (that honor belongs to Alex Hannum), within only eight years, Guerin helped his team end up making eight playoff appearances and has the most victories in franchise history.
Richie Guerin
Paul Silas
Only since 2004 have the Bobcats been around, which helps to make the pool of coaches quite shallow. The coach of last season, Paul Silas, has a pretty good track record and with some fresh faces, he should really be able to assist the Bobcats’ focus on improving.
Paul Silas
Mike Brown
Was the success of Mike Brown purely and simply because of LeBron James? Perhaps, although to be able to handle a superstar requires a lot of expertise. And furthermore, in this franchise’s history, there are not too many truly inspirational choices.
Mike Brown
Al Attles
Two men came to this decision: Al Attles and Don Nelson. Nelson has 135 fewer wins, a smaller number of winners, one less playoff appearance, as well as one less championship.
Al Attles
Slick Leonard
There are three championships for Slick Leonard. No other coach has any in Indiana Pacers history. Leonard has 8 appearances in the playoffs. No other coach has far more than three in Pacers history. Also for Pacers, he has 529 wins. With 190, Larry Brown is second.
Slick Leonard
Mike Fratello
Mike Fratello is really the only coach to post a winning record over his professional life in Vancouver/Memphis Grizzlies history. He led the team to two of its four playoff appearances as well. In a couple of years, but not yet, Lionel Hollins may take over this place.
Mike Fratello
Larry Costello
Firstly, you must love your plaid suit. Don Nelson may well have a greater winning percentage, more total wins and much more appearances in the playoffs, but Larry Costello has the excellence to call his own in the playoffs. 61.7 percent of his postseason games were won by Costello, while Nelson could only collect a winning percentage of 47.7. In addition, Costello ended up taking the Bucks to their only two NBA Finals appearances and managed to win the only title for the franchise.
Larry Costello
Flip Saunders
First in the history of the Minnesota Timberwolves in wins (411), winning percentage (55.8) as well as playoff appearances (eight): Flip Saunders, Flip Saunders, and Flip Saunders. Second in victories (53), winning percentage (43.4) as well as playoff appearances (none) in Timberwolves history: Dwane Casey, Dwane Casey, and an eight-way tie. Who else do you personally believe deserves the spot?
Flip Saunders
Kevin Loughery
Even if he could be the not-so-proud holder of a losing record, whenever it comes to gaining back that pride, leading the Nets to even more wins, playoff appearances as well as championships than just about any other coach in the history of the franchise does wonders.
Kevin Loughery
Stan Van Gundy
The 67.7 percent winning percentage of Stan Van Gundy is staggeringly high. The fact that in playoff appearances, he’s 4-for-4 is also impressive.
Stan Van Gundy
Red Auerbach
Auerbach is known as a pioneer of modern basketball, reinterpreting basketball as a tournament ruled by team play and defensive performance and as a powerful offensive weapon for the introduction of the fast break. He primed many athletes that went on to be inducted into the Hall of Fame of Basketball. In additament, in dissolving color barriers in the NBA, Auerbach was crucial. Best known for his polarizing nature, when he believed a victory was assured, he was well known for smoking a cigar, a trait that’s become, for so many, “the ultimate symbol of victory” throughout his tenure in Boston.
Red Auerbach
Byron Scott
It’s a difficult proposition to select the greatest coach in the history of the Nets, from New York to New Jersey to Brooklyn. In 1974 and 1976, the Nets won two ABA championships under Kevin Loughery, but despite the presence of Loughery, when the franchise joined the NBA and lost Julius Erving, they were a train wreck.
Byron Scott
Larry Bird
Quality players often create awful coaches who are unable to transcribe their instincts and skills into helpful instruction and guidance. Occasionally, as their knowledge of the game and team dynamics is a significant advantage, they create amazing coaches. They make good coaches and front-office executives in rare instances. That’s the situation with one of the greatest players in the game, Larry Bird. Bird came back home to his home city in 1997 after starring for the Boston Celtics and serving with their front office to become the head coach of the Indiana Pacers.
Larry Bird
Lionel Hollins
Along with guard Mike Conley and head coach Lionel Hollins, Marc found his groove, leading the team back to the postseason in 2011. Under Hollins, the team will make the playoffs three straight seasons, including a push to the 2013 Western Conference Finals.
Lionel Hollins
William Holzman
Years before Riley and Van Gundy, the true success of the New York Knicks did come when the Knicks were something of a powerhouse. From 1966 to 1975, the team produced nine straight postseasons, the last eight of which came under the guidance of William “Red” Holzman.
William Holzman
Dwane Casey
Players crucial to the success of the team, including Kyle Lowry, Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet, developed from close to zero draft picks to powerful impact players under Dwane Casey’s monitor. Under Casey’s watch, even players that were flipped later for key veteran contributors were created.
Dwane Casey
Lester Harrison
Harrison was a real game trendsetter. At the Rochester Royals (now the Sacramento Kings), he formed his own franchise and afterwards helped negotiate the creation of the NBA. He managed to win the franchise’s only title along the way.
Lester Harrison
Mike Budenholzer
After Milwaukee has been sent straight home in Orlando, this spot does seem a little high, but “Coach Bud” deserves some credit for coaching the Bucks in back-to-back seasons to the best record in the NBA. The 55-year-old native of Arizona is a two-time winner of the Coach of the Year, whose best moments still lie ahead of him.
Mike Budenholzer
Del Harris
Del Harris has spent the previous 44 years in pro basketball, first as an assistant coach with the Utah Stars, and also more since then as the vice president of the Mavericks’ G League team, the Texas Legends, winner of the 2020 Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award. Even though he had never won a championship, in 1981, when his Rockets tumbled to the Celtics in six games in the NBA Finals, Harris came remarkably close.
Del Harris
Doug Moe
In NBA history, Doug Moe was not the most successful coach, but he was one of the most amusing. No attempt was made by the wisecracking grad of North Carolina to hide the fact that he did not bother drawing up plays or coming up with intricate strategies to stop the other team. He once explained, “My plan is to just go out there, have a good time, and run around like a chicken with your head cut off,” “Make those stiffs run around and chase you on defense a little bit, and you too can win a few games.”
Doug Moe
Hubie Brown
Many men on our list have consistently won NBA Coach of the Year awards, but the only one who seized his 26 years apart was Hubie Brown. That long span speaks volumes about his longevity as well as the ability of Brown to relate to multi-generation players. The former math teacher trained his students in the fundamentals of basketball and took great pride in ensuring that his teams were always well prepared.
Hubie Brown
Michael Malone
.Malone was an assistant high school basketball coach at the Friends School of Baltimore while completing his degree at Loyol aAfter graduating from Loyola, Malone joined Oakland University as an assistant coach under coach Greg Kampe for Golden Grizzlies men’s basketball. Malone was just about to begin practising to enter the Michigan State Police before having a job offer from Providence College. Malone was director of men’s basketball administration at the University of Virginia during the 1998–99 season.
Michael Malone
Lloyd Pierce
Pierce made the Yerba Buena High School varsity in 1990 as a rookie. He loved to play defense and then was regarded one of the San Jose area’s best-ever players. He received a full scholarship to the University of Santa Clara for basketball. The Santa Clara Broncos made the Sweet 16 twice in three NCAA tournaments from 1995 to 1997 with future NBA players Steve Nash and Marlon Garnett. He was an honorable mention for the All-West Coast Conference and averaged 7.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steals per game during his college years of playing.
Lloyd Pierce
Terry Stotts
Stotts had become a part of Karl’s coaching staff on different teams in the CBA and NBA after having played as a forward in Europe as well as the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), in which he was coached by George Karl. Later, before assisting the Dallas Mavericks win the 2011 NBA championship as an assistant coach, he got opportunities as a head coach for the Atlanta Hawks as well as Milwaukee Bucks.
Terry Stotts
Scott Brooks
Scott William Brooks (born July 31, 1965) is also an American professional basketball coach as well as a former player who really is the National Basketball Association Head Coach of the Washington Wizards (NBA). Prior to actually playing for his final two years at the University of California, Irvine, he did play point guard at San Joaquin Delta College as well as Texas Christian University. In 2001, he was inducted into the UCI Hall of Fame.
Scott Brooks