List of NBA championship head coaches

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The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a major professional basketball league in North America. It was founded in 1946 as the Basketball Association of America (BAA).1 The league adopted its current name at the start of the 1949–50 season when it merged with the National Basketball League (NBL).2 The league consists of 30 teams, of which 29 are located in the United States and one in Canada. In the NBA, a head coach is the highest ranking coach of a coaching staff. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than the assistant coaches.

Former Los Angeles Lakers head coach, Phil Jackson, won 11 NBA championships, the most in NBA history. He is the only coach who has won multiple championships with multiple teams. He won 6 titles with the Chicago Bulls and 5 titles with the Lakers. Red Auerbach won 9 championships with the Boston Celtics. He won his first title in 1957 before winning 8 consecutive titles from 1959 to 1966. John Kundla and Pat Riley each won 5 championships. Kundla won all of his titles with the Lakers, while Riley won 4 titles with the Lakers and 1 with the Miami Heat. Current San Antonio Spurs head coach, Popovich, is the only other coach who has won more than 2 championships; he won 4 titles with the Spurs. Boston Celtics head coach, Doc Rivers, Dallas Mavericks head coach, Rick Carlisle, and Miami Heat head coach, Erik Spoelstra are the only other active coaches who have won a championship.

Among championship head coaches, 13 of them (Auerbach, Larry Brown, Carlisle, Bill Fitch, Tom Heinsohn, Red Holzman, Jackson, Dick Motta, Popovich, Riley, Rivers, Bill Sharman, Lenny Wilkens) have all won Coach of the Year Award and 11 of them (Auerbach, Brown, Chuck Daly, Alex Hannum, Holzman, Jackson, Kundla, Jack Ramsay, Riley, Sharman, Wilkens) have been inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach.3 Several more have been enshrined as players or contributors.

Contents

Key

Yrs Number of years coached
GC Games coached
W Wins
L Losses
Win% Winning percentage
^ Denotes coach who is currently coaching an NBA team
* Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach
*^ Active NBA coach who has been elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

List

Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2011–12 season.

Number won Coach Team(s) won with (years)[a] Coaching career[b] Yrs GC W L Win% GC W L Win% Ref.
Regular season Playoffs
7001110000000000000 11 Jackson, PhilPhil Jackson* Chicago Bulls (1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998)
Los Angeles Lakers (2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010)		 1989–1998, 1999–2004, 2005–2011 20 1,640 1,155 485 .704 333 229 104 .688 4
7000900000000000000 9 Auerbach, RedRed Auerbach* Boston Celtics (1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966) 1946–1966 20 1,417 938 479 .662 168 99 69 .589 5
7000500000000000000 5 Kundla, JohnJohn Kundla* Minneapolis Lakers (1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954) 1948–1958, 1958–1959 11 725 423 302 .583 95 60 35 .632 6
7000500000000000000 5 Riley, PatPat Riley* Los Angeles Lakers (1982, 1985, 1987, 1988)
Miami Heat (2006)		 1981–2003, 2005–2008 24 1,904 1,210 694 .636 282 171 111 .606 7
7000400000000000000 4 Popovich, GreggGregg Popovich^ San Antonio Spurs (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007) 1996–present 16 1,246 847 399 .680 195 118 77 .605 8
7000200000000000000 2 Daly, ChuckChuck Daly* Detroit Pistons (1989, 1990) 1981–1994, 1997–1999 14 1,075 638 437 .593 126 75 51 .595 9
7000200000000000000 2 Hannum, AlexAlex Hannum* St. Louis Hawks (1958)
Syracuse Nationals/Philadelphia 76ers (1967)		 1957–1958, 1960–1968, 1969–1971 12 883 471 412 .533 81 47 34 .580 10
7000200000000000000 2 Heinsohn, TomTom Heinsohn Boston Celtics (1974, 1976) 1969–1978 9 690 427 263 .619 80 47 33 .588 11
7000200000000000000 2 Holzman, RedRed Holzman* New York Knicks (1970, 1973) 1954–1957, 1967–1977, 1978–1982 18 1,300 696 604 .535 106 58 48 .547 12
7000200000000000000 2 Jones, K. C.K. C. Jones Boston Celtics (1984, 1986) 1974–1976, 1983–1988, 1990–1992 10 774 522 252 .674 138 81 57 .587 13
7000200000000000000 2 Russell, BillBill Russell Boston Celtics (1968, 1969) 1966–1969, 1973–1977, 1987–1988 8 631 341 290 .540 61 34 27 .557 14
7000200000000000000 2 Tomjanovich, RudyRudy Tomjanovich Houston Rockets (1994, 1995) 1992–2003, 2004–2005 13 943 527 416 .559 90 51 39 .567 15
7000100000000000000 1 Attles, AlAl Attles San Francisco/Golden State Warriors (1975) 1970–1982 14 1,075 557 518 .518 61 31 30 .508 16
7000100000000000000 1 Brown, LarryLarry Brown* Detroit Pistons (2004) 1976–1979, 1981–1983, 1988–2006, 2008–2010 27 2,002 1,098 904 .548 193 100 93 .518 17
7000100000000000000 1 Carlisle, RickRick Carlisle^ Dallas Mavericks (2011) 2001–2007, 2008–present 10 804 479 325 .596 103 53 50 .515 18
7000100000000000000 1 Cervi, AlAl Cervi Syracuse Nationals (1955) 1949–1956, 1958–1959 9 567 326 241 .575 60 34 26 .567 19
7000100000000000000 1 Costello, LarryLarry Costello Milwaukee Bucks (1971) 1968–1976, 1978–1979 10 730 430 300 .589 60 37 23 .617 20
7000100000000000000 1 Cunningham, BillyBilly Cunningham Philadelphia 76ers (1983) 1977–1985 8 650 454 196 .698 105 66 39 .629 21
7000100000000000000 1 Fitch, BillBill Fitch Boston Celtics (1981) 1970–1988, 1989–1992, 1994–1998 25 2,050 944 1,106 .460 109 55 54 .505 22
7000100000000000000 1 Gottlieb, EdwardEdward Gottlieb Philadelphia Warriors (1947) 1946–1955 9 581 263 318 .453 32 15 17 .469 23
7000100000000000000 1 Harrison, LesterLester Harrison Rochester Royals (1951) 1948–1955 7 476 295 181 .620 38 19 19 .500 24
7000100000000000000 1 Jeannette, BuddyBuddy Jeannette Baltimore Bullets (1948) 1947–1952, 1964–1966, 1966–1968 3 216 119 97 .551 20 10 10 .500 25
7000100000000000000 1 Motta, DickDick Motta Washington Bullets (1978) 1968–1980, 1980–1987, 1990–1991, 1994–1997 25 1,952 935 1,017 .479 126 56 70 .444 26
7000100000000000000 1 Ramsay, JackJack Ramsay* Portland Trail Blazers (1977) 1969–1972, 1973–1988 21 1,647 864 783 .525 102 44 58 .431 27
7000100000000000000 1 Rivers, DocDoc Rivers^ Boston Celtics (2008) 1999–2003, 2004–present 13 979 546 433 .558 115 62 53 .550 28
7000100000000000000 1 Senesky, GeorgeGeorge Senesky Philadelphia Warriors (1956) 1955–1959 3 216 119 97 .551 20 10 10 .500 29
7000100000000000000 1 Sharman, BillBill Sharman* Los Angeles Lakers (1972) 1966–1968, 1971–1977 7 573 333 240 .581 62 35 27 .565 30
7000100000000000000 1 Spoelstra, ErikErik Spoelstra^ Miami Heat (2012) 2008–present 4 312 194 118 .622 56 34 22 .607 31
7000100000000000000 1 Westhead, PaulPaul Westhead Los Angeles Lakers (1980) 1979–1981, 1982–1983, 1990–1992 6 407 183 224 .450 19 13 6 .684 32
7000100000000000000 1 Wilkens, LennyLenny Wilkens* Seattle SuperSonics (1979) 1969–1972, 1974–1976, 1977–1985, 1986–2003, 2004–2005 32 2,487 1,332 1,155 .536 178 80 98 .449 33

Notes

  • a Each year is linked to an article about the BAA/NBA Finals in that year.
  • b Each year is linked to an article about that particular BAA/NBA season.

See also

References

General
Specific
  1. ^ Goldaper, Sam. "The First Game". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved August 4, 2010. 
  2. ^ "1949–50 Season Overview: Powerful Lakers Repeat". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved August 4, 2010. 
  3. ^ "Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Inductees". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 4, 2010. 
  4. ^ "Phil Jackson Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 14, 2011. 
  5. ^ "Red Auerbach Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 19, 2010. 
  6. ^ "John Kundla Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 17, 2010. 
  7. ^ "Pat Riley Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 4, 2010. 
  8. ^ "Gregg Popovich Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 22, 2012. 
  9. ^ "Chuck Daly Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 16, 2010. 
  10. ^ "Alex Hannum Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 17, 2010. 
  11. ^ "Tom Heinsohn Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 1, 2010. 
  12. ^ "Red Holzman Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 16, 2010. 
  13. ^ "K. C. Jones Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 17, 2010. 
  14. ^ "Bill Russell Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 10, 2010. 
  15. ^ "Rudy Tomjanovich Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 17, 2010. 
  16. ^ "Al Attles Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 16, 2010. 
  17. ^ "Larry Brown Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 14, 2011. 
  18. ^ "Rick Carlisle Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 22, 2012. 
  19. ^ "Al Cervi Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 29, 2010. 
  20. ^ "Larry Costello Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 17, 2010. 
  21. ^ "Billy Cunningham Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 1, 2010. 
  22. ^ "Bill Fitch Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 19, 2010. 
  23. ^ "Edward Gottlieb Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 10, 2010. 
  24. ^ "Les Harrison Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 9, 2010. 
  25. ^ "George Senesky Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 1, 2012. 
  26. ^ "Dick Motta Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 19, 2010. 
  27. ^ "Jack Ramsay Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 19, 2010. 
  28. ^ "Doc Rivers Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 22, 2012. 
  29. ^ "George Senesky Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 1, 2012. 
  30. ^ "Bill Sharman Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 29, 2010. 
  31. ^ "Erik Spoelstra Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 22, 2012. 
  32. ^ "Paul Westhead Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 9, 2010. 
  33. ^ "Lenny Wilkens Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 15, 2010.