Scottie Pippen, Phil Jackson, Chicago Bulls. (Photo by Steve DiPaola/NBAE via Getty Images)
For a league with a history of star players, the men on the sidelines mattered, too. The very best head coaches in each NBA team’s history are an elite group.
The NBA is a league of star personalities. To tell its history is to talk about Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, LeBron James and Stephen Curry. Yet none of those players did it alone but had the support of teammates and their entire organizations. That included the men standing on the sidelines.
It’s always been difficult to evaluate the impact of a head coach on a team. How much of a team’s success is due to scheme and rotations. How much is because of a team’s talent? Should coaches get credit for managing the myriad personalities of that talent?
Too many talented teams have fallen short of the ultimate prize or fallen apart too quickly for there to be no credit given to head coaches. They do have an important job and if they do it poorly, the team has no chance at sustaining success. When they do it well, a team can rise above.
The future of coaching in the NBA has never been brighter, with teams finally opening up to the obvious benefits of adding women to their coaching staffs or bringing in coaches from diverse backgrounds. Teams on the front end of this shift have already begun to reap the rewards.
Looking back at the past, we can see the impact coaches have had on their teams and identify who has been the best for their respective teams. In identifying the best coach in each team’s history, some decisions are more obvious than others. Here are the selections to represent 70 years of coaching impact.
NBA is a league of star personalities. To tell its history is to talk about Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, LeBron James and Stephen Curry. Yet none of those players did it alone but had the support of teammates and their entire organizations. That included the men standing on the sidelines.</p>
<p>It’s always been difficult to evaluate the impact of a head coach on a team. How much of a team’s success is due to scheme and rotations. How much is because of a team’s talent? Should coaches get credit for managing the myriad personalities of that talent?</p>
<p>Too many talented teams have fallen short of the ultimate prize or fallen apart too quickly for there to be no credit given to head coaches. They do have an important job and if they do it poorly, the team has no chance at sustaining success. When they do it well, a team can rise above.</p>
<p>The future of coaching in the NBA has never been brighter, with teams finally opening up to the obvious benefits of adding women to their coaching staffs or bringing in coaches from diverse backgrounds. Teams on the front end of this shift have already begun to reap the rewards.</p>
<p>Looking back at the past, we can see the impact coaches have had on their teams and identify who has been the best for their respective teams. In identifying the best coach in each team’s history, some decisions are more obvious than others. Here are the selections to represent 70 years of coaching impact.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Atlanta Hawks </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_360433" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img class="wp-image-360433 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1190,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F51607433.jpeg" alt="Lenny Wilkens" width="1600" height="1190" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/51607433.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/51607433-768x571.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">Lenny Wilkens. (JEFF HAYNES/AFP/Getty Images)</p>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Greatest head coach in Atlanta Hawks history: Lenny Wilkens, 1993-00</h2>
<p>The <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://hoopshabit.com/eastern-conference/atlanta-hawks/">Atlanta Hawks</a> are a franchise with a long history, much of it more successful than casual fans may think. The St. Louis Hawks were the first foil to Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics in the 1950s, the only team to beat Russell in the NBA Finals in 1958. Head coach Alex Hannum coached just 103 games for the franchise, but that included the franchise’s only title.</p>
<p>In the decades since, the Hawks have continued that role of pesky challenger to Eastern Conference powers, unable to return to the NBA Finals, but generally competitive nonetheless.</p>
<p>Richie Guerin, Hubie Brown, Mike Fratello and Mike Budenholzer have all spent time at the helm of many successful Hawks squads. Seven times have Hawks coaches claimed the NBA Coach of the Year award.</p>
<p>Out of these strong head coaches, the one who stands above the rest is Lenny Wilkens. One of the most decorated coaches in league history, Wilkens oversaw the Hawks from 1993 to 2000, winning 310 of the 542 (57.2 percent) regular-season games he coached.</p>
<p>In the NBA playoffs, he went 17-30, reaching the postseason in all but one season. However, his teams always ended up losing to the likes of Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls and Reggie Miller’s Indiana Pacers each year.</p>
<p>Wilkens is a rare three-time inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, reaching it as a player, coach and member of the 1992 Olympic “Dream Team” as an assistant coach. While he could never get the Hawks back to the NBA Finals, he was a steady and experienced hand who helped inconsistent rosters be consistently successful in the 1990s.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Boston Celtics </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_360435" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img class="wp-image-360435 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1080865264.jpeg" alt="Red Auerbach" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1080865264.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1080865264-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Red Auerbach. (Photo by NBA Photos/NBAE via Getty Images)</p>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Greatest head coach in Boston Celtics history: Arnold “Red” Auerbach, 1950-66</h2>
<p>The <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://hoopshabit.com/eastern-conference/boston-celtics/">Boston Celtics</a> have been a powerhouse of a franchise for nearly three-quarters of a century, winning titles and challenging for supremacy of the Eastern Conference. As such, the team has had several successful coaches. There are a handful of strong candidates for the greatest in team history.</p>
<p>Bill Russell deserves major accolades as the first black head coach in NBA history, leading the Celtics two a pair of titles as a player/coach. Tommy Heinsohn followed Russell and won another two titles.</p>
<p>Bill Fitch won a title during the early years of Larry Bird’s career, while K.C. Jones won 56 postseason games and another pair of titles. Doc Rivers led the Celtics to two NBA Finals and one title in 2008.</p>
<p>Even that level of success is simply swept away by the brilliance that was Arnold “Red” Auerbach. This was a man who would taunt opposing teams by lighting a “victory cigar” when he was certain the other team had lost, no matter how early in the game it was. He was unafraid of the opinions of anyone, whether it was revolutionizing basketball strategy or starting an all-black lineup in the NBA Finals.</p>
<p>Auerbach’s nine titles with the Celtics are the most with a single team for any coach in league history. He won 795 games in the regular season and another 90 in the postseason. From 1957 to 1966, only once did a team other than the Celtics hoist the trophy.</p>
<p>He would go on to be the general manager and team president of the Celtics after he left the sideline, where he was wildly successful and helped the team win another seven titles. His personality became part of who the Celtics were. In the vein of Vince Lombardi with the Green Bay Packers, he was a defining figure in the history of the league and the Celtics franchise.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Brooklyn Nets </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_360436" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img class="wp-image-360436 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2129,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F2780426.jpeg" alt="Byron Scott, New Jersey Nets" width="3200" height="2129" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/2780426.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/2780426-768x511.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Byron Scott, New Jersey Nets. (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)</p>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Greatest head coach in Brooklyn Nets history: Byron Scott, 2000-04</h2>
<p>Selecting the greatest coach in the history of the Nets — from New York to New Jersey to Brooklyn — is a difficult proposition. The Nets won two ABA championships under Kevin Loughery in 1974 and 1976, but when the franchise joined the NBA and lost Julius Erving, they were a train wreck, despite Loughery’s presence.</p>
<p>The team was largely a bottom feeder for the next few decades, winning just one playoff series from 1977 to 2001. 11 head coaches cycled through during that period and only three finished with winning records coaching the Nets.</p>
<p>The high point of the Nets’ NBA time came just after the turn of the millennium when Byron Scott led them to two consecutive NBA Finals appearances. After a season of turnover, Scott led a revamped roster to three consecutive first-place finishes in the Atlantic Division and three deep postseason runs. In 2002, 2003 and 2004, the team lost to the eventual NBA champions.</p>
<p>Those two NBA Finals trips represent the only two times this franchise ever made it to the Eastern Conference Finals or beyond. He is the only Nets coach with a winning record in the playoffs. Despite coaching just four seasons, his 25 postseason wins are 40 percent of the franchise’s total. In a brief stint, Scott was the best coach in the team’s history.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Charlotte Hornets </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_360656" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img class="wp-image-360656 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1066,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F51985950.jpeg" alt="Paul Silas, Charlotte Hornets" width="1600" height="1066" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/51985950.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/51985950-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">Paul Silas, Charlotte Hornets. (Photo credit should read NELL REDMOND/AFP/Getty Images)</p>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Greatest head coach in Charlotte Hornets history: Paul Silas, 1999-02, 2010-12</h2>
<p>The <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://hoopshabit.com/eastern-conference/charlotte-hornets/">Charlotte Hornets</a> are one of the league’s youngest franchises, with a total of just 29 seasons and 11 different head coaches. With just 10 playoff berths and four series victories, there is not a lot of dominance to go around in this team’s history.</p>
<p>Only one Charlotte coach totaled more than five playoff wins and that was Paul Silas. He coached the Hornets for three seasons from 1999 to 2002 before the team (and Silas) moved to New Orleans, totaling 161 wins in 281 regular-season games for a 57.3 percent winning percentage.</p>
<p>In the postseason, Silas was the only Charlotte coach to garner any real success, winning playoff series in back-to-back years in 2001 (3-0 over the Miami Heat) and 2002 (3-1 over the Orlando Magic). As a franchise, Charlotte has 23 playoff wins and 11 of them came under Silas.</p>
<p>Silas returned to the franchise in 2010 and coached two moribund seasons, including overseeing the 2011-12 NBA season when the then-Bobcats won just seven wins, the fewest in league history. It’s simply an indictment of Charlotte’s bumpy history that no other coach can beat out Silas for this honor.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Chicago Bulls </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_360657" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img class="wp-image-360657 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F133066646.jpeg" alt="Phil Jackson, Chicago Bulls" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/133066646.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/133066646-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Phil Jackson, Chicago Bulls. (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)</p>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Greatest head coach in Chicago Bulls history: Phil Jackson, 1989-98</h2>
<p>For some NBA teams, finding the best head coach is sorting through a stack of similar candidates with grim resumes, or conversely trying to take one future Basketball Hall of Famer over another. For the <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://hoopshabit.com/eastern-conference/chicago-bulls/">Chicago Bulls</a>, there is and probably always will be just one answer.</p>
<p>Phil Jackson was a championship-winning player before going into coaching, eventually becoming an assistant coach under Doug Collins in 1987. Although an accomplished coach himself, Collins and a roster headlined by Michael Jordan could not break through an Eastern Conference run by the Boston Celtics and the Detroit Pistons.</p>
<p>In 1989, Jackson took over and instituted his peculiar, but effective triangle offense and deploying Jordan, Scottie Pippen and the rest of the roster in just the right way to find success. Jackson would lead the Bulls to six championships, the second-most all time with one franchise (Red Auerbach won nine with the Celtics).</p>
<p>The Bulls have had other periods of success, with coaching legends such as Johnny Kerr, Dick Motta and Jerry Sloan all coaching the team at various times. But in the playoffs, every Bulls team flamed out. No coach other than Jackson has a winning record in the postseason. He owns a whopping 60 percent of the franchise’s playoff wins with 111.</p>
<p>No other Bulls coach comes close to touching his production or the titles he brought home. Jackson has a case as the greatest coach in NBA history. He is certainly the greatest coach in Bulls history.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Cleveland Cavaliers </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_360658" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img class="wp-image-360658 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2129,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F95645443.jpeg" alt="Mike Brown, Cleveland Cavaliers" width="3200" height="2129" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/95645443.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/95645443-768x511.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Mike Brown, Cleveland Cavaliers. (Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)</p>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Greatest head coach in Cleveland Cavaliers history: Mike Brown, 2005-10</h2>
<p>The history of the <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://hoopshabit.com/eastern-conference/cleveland-cavaliers/">Cleveland Cavaliers</a> is easy to tell, as it revolves around two of the greatest players to ever play the game.</p>
<p>After 15 years of mediocrity, the Cavaliers put together a strong team in the mid-1980s, with multiple winning seasons under the leadership of head coaches Lenny Wilkens and Mike Fratello. But Michael Jordan was an obstacle they could never get past, best illustrated by “The Shot” in 1989.</p>
<p>The team spiraled into futility in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the low point of which was a 17-win season that resulted in the No. 1 pick and hometown LeBron James becoming a Cavalier in 2003. Their success and failure for the next 15 years revolved around James, who led them to the highest heights they have reached as a franchise.</p>
<p>Overseeing James beginning in his third season was Mike Brown, a consummate professional who built strong defenses around James’ shotmaking. Brown coached 492 games with the franchise, totaling 305 wins and more importantly 42 postseason victories, the most in franchise history.</p>
<p>He led the Cavaliers to their first NBA Finals berth in 2007, although the Cavaliers were swept in four games to the San Antonio Spurs in what was a lopsided series.</p>
<p>It’s hard to separate Brown’s success from that of James’ as it is for all superstar players. James returned to Cleveland and went to the NBA Finals once with David Blatt (holder of the highest regular-season winning percentage in franchise history) and three times with Tyronn Lue, who also coached Cleveland to its only NBA title.</p>
<p>Brown’s body of work and consistency give him the nod over Lue, who coached 300 fewer games. He won at least one playoff series in every year he coached, won at least 45 games and were perennial contenders. James may be the driving force behind that success, but Brown deserves and here earns some of the credit as well.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Dallas Mavericks </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_360659" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img class="wp-image-360659 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F115951968.jpeg" alt="Rick Carlisle, Dallas Mavericks" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/115951968.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/115951968-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Rick Carlisle, Dallas Mavericks. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)</p>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Greatest head coach in Dallas Mavericks history: Rick Carlisle, 2008-Present</h2>
<p>The Dallas Mavericks are not an infant franchise, playing their first NBA game in 1980 under the coaching of Dick Motta. 39 seasons later and the Mavericks have had just nine different head coaches, ending with current coach Rick Carlisle.</p>
<p>Carlisle wins out here over Don Nelson and Avery Johnson based on longevity and the ever-elusive title. Nelson coached the team for 590 games from 1997 to 2005, overseeing the growth of Dirk Nowitzki from gangly European unknown to dominant offensive forward. Johnson took the team to the NBA Finals in 2006 and racked up 23 playoff wins in just three seasons.</p>
<p>What neither could do was win a title, something Carlisle did in 2011, defeating the superteam in the Miami Heat and avenging the 2006 NBA Finals loss in the process. His 27 postseason wins are the most in franchise history, as are his 886 games coached and 470 wins totaled.</p>
<p>With Nowitzki officially retired after the end of the 2018-19 NBA season, Carlisle is overseeing a new chapter in the Mavericks’ history with young stars Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis. His track record suggests he is fully capable of leading them to another dominant stretch of play for the Mavericks franchise.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Denver Nuggets </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_360660" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img class="wp-image-360660 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1060,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F112906304.jpeg" alt="Larry Brown, Charlotte Bobcats" width="1600" height="1060" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/112906304.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/112906304-768x509.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">Larry Brown, Charlotte Bobcats. (Photo by Gary O’Brien/Charlotte Observer/MCT via Getty Images)</p>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Greatest head coach in Denver Nuggets history: Larry Brown, 1974-79</h2>
<p>In 1976, the ABA merged into the NBA and four franchises entered the league, among them the Denver Nuggets. They were the most dominant team in the ABA regular season leading into the merger, winning 65 and 60 games respectively their last two seasons in the league.</p>
<p>Upon entering the NBA, the team did not miss a beat, winning 50 games in its first NBA season and 48 in the second. While the team was certainly talented, with players such as David Thompson and Dan Issel, the most significant presence during the transition was head coach Larry Brown.</p>
<p>Brown is one of the most decorated head coaches in NBA history, with 2,338 games and 1,327 wins to his name over an NBA career spanning 40 years. He put in a lot of that work over five seasons with the Nuggets, winning 251 regular-season games and another 21 in the playoffs.</p>
<p>In those five seasons, the Nuggets won at least 47 games each time, a feat the franchise has replicated just nine times in the 40 years since. Although he never brought the franchise a title in either league, he demonstrated he is a top-notch coach who brought a significant amount of success to the Nuggets franchise.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Detroit Pistons </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_360661" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img class="wp-image-360661 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F85150113.jpeg" alt="Chuck Daly, Detroit Pistons" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/85150113.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/85150113-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Chuck Daly, Detroit Pistons. (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)</p>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Greatest head coach in Detroit Pistons history: Chuck Daly, 1983-92</h2>
<p>For a franchise started back in 1948, the Detroit Pistons did a lot of losing for over three decades. Upon moving to Detroit in 1957, the team had a total of three winning seasons in the next 26 seasons. Then, the franchise hired Chuck Daly as its head coach.</p>
<p>Daly was not a superstar coach when he joined the Pistons, nor even a successful one. He went 9-32 in his only NBA head coaching stint before taking the Pistons job. Daly was most recently a broadcaster with the Philadelphia 76ers before Detroit hired him.</p>
<p>The change was immediate, as Daly took a team that had missed the playoffs for six consecutive seasons and immediately lifted them back into the postseason. In 10 seasons at the helm, the Pistons made the playoffs 10 times, winning at least 46 games every season and hitting the high-mark of 63 in 1988-89.</p>
<p>Daly’s Pistons, who gained the nickname “Bad Boys” and embraced that identity, broke through the iron hold Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics had on the Eastern Conference. Detroit won a title in 1989 and held off the rising tide of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls long enough to win a second in 1990.</p>
<p>Larry Brown is a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach who won a title for the team, but he took a great team (50 wins the year before) and got them over the hump. That’s an impressive feat, but not as impressive as taking a losing franchise and turning them completely around. Rick Carlisle and Flip Saunders sandwiched Brown and both were very successful as well.</p>
<p>By the time he left the team in 1993, Daly had won 467 regular-season games with the team over 10 seasons, including another 71 postseason contests. Not only did he bring the team two titles, but he had enough respect among the league to be named the head coach for the 1992 Olympic “Dream Team” despite his star player Isiah Thomas being frozen out of the roster by Jordan.</p>
<p>Daly found the perfect combination of roster and situation. He took full advantage, forming a dynasty and one of basketball history’s most well-known teams. He is the clear-cut choice for the best head coach in Pistons franchise history.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Golden State Warriors </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_360662" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img class="wp-image-360662 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2134,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1153316977.jpeg" alt="Steve Kerr, Golden State Warriors" width="3200" height="2134" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1153316977.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1153316977-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Steve Kerr, Golden State Warriors. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)</p>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Greatest head coach in Golden State Warriors history: Steve Kerr, 2014-Present</h2>
<p>This may seem like a case of recency bias and there is a reasonable case for that. The Golden State Warriors, after all, have employed some of the very best head coaches in NBA history. Bill Sharman coached the San Francisco Warriors for two seasons before he helped the Los Angeles Lakers win the 1972 title. Al Attles brought a championship to the Bay Area in 1975.</p>
<p>Many would point to Don Nelson, who was without a doubt the franchise’s most prolific head coach before Steve Kerr was hired. Nelson first coached the team from 1988 to 1998, overseeing the “Run TMC” days of the franchise. He had a second stint in the late 2000s, including coaching the special “We Believe” Warriors season in 2006-07.</p>
<p>Yet even with Nelson’s accomplishments, his many wins and signature moments, the brilliant Kerr era cannot be ignored. The fewest games the Warriors have ever won with Kerr was 57 in 2018-19. Only once before 2014 when Kerr took over did the Warriors win as many as 57 wins and they had never won more than 59. His teams have averaged 64.4 wins per season.</p>
<p>Zooming out to the entirety of NBA history, only 18 times did a team win more than the Warriors have averaged. Kerr ranks sixth all time in titles with three and the Warriors have won their Conference five straight seasons.</p>
<p>Their five appearances in the NBA Finals over the past five years are more than 20 franchises have in their entire history. Only the Bill Russell Boston Celtics have matched Kerr’s five straight NBA Finals runs.</p>
<p>In just five years, Kerr has already tallied 322 wins, in the top 50 all time, despite just starting his coaching career. His .785 winning percentage is the highest all time among coaches. In the postseason, he ranks 12th all time in wins and first in winning percentage.</p>
<p>Zooming back in, Kerr blows away the competition simply from the Warriors franchise. Only Nelson and Attles have more career wins than Kerr, both with a significantly lower win percentage.</p>
<p>Of course, Kerr’s success is tied into the talent of his team, including the game-breaking Stephen Curry. But the way the team elevated when he arrived illustrates just how much a coach can matter. No coach in NBA history has had the start to his career that Kerr has.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Houston Rockets </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_360663" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img class="wp-image-360663 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1060,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1652081.jpeg" alt="Rudy Tomjanovich, Houston Rockets" width="1600" height="1060" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1652081.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1652081-768x509.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">Rudy Tomjanovich, Houston Rockets. (Photo by Bill Baptist/NBAE/Getty Images)</p>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Greatest head coach in Houston Rockets history: Rudy Tomjanovich, 1992-03</h2>
<p>Another franchise with a long history, but a shortlist of head coaches are the Houston Rockets, who have employed 14 head coaches over their 52-year history. 10 of those coaches manned the bench for at least 250 games, giving the franchise a level of consistency over the years.</p>
<p>Bill Fitch is one of the more accomplished coaches in league history and spent five seasons with Houston in the 1980s. He is one of three Rockets coaches to post a playoff winning percentage above .500, tallying 21 wins in 39 games during the early years of Hakeem Olajuwon’s career, including a trip to the 1986 NBA Finals.</p>
<p>The successor to Fitch was Don Chaney, who lost in the first round for three consecutive years before missing the playoffs, the first time Houston had sat out since drafting Olajuwon in 1984.</p>
<p>That set the stage for Rudy Tomjanovich, who took over in 1992. Over the next three seasons, the Rockets would win an average of 53 games and take home two titles, defeating the New York Knicks in 1994 and sweeping the Orlando Magic in 1995.</p>
<p>Tomjanovich would go on to coach the Rockets for a total of 12 seasons, totaling 503 wins, twice as many as the next highest franchise total. His 51 postseason wins are also a franchise-high and his playoff winning percentage is second only to Mike D’Antoni.</p>
<p>One of the great travesties of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is that Tomjanovich is not yet enshrined. His excellence as a coach demands nothing less.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Indiana Pacers </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_360664" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img class="wp-image-360664 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1134,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F51543531.jpeg" alt="Larry Bird, Reggie Miller, Indiana Pacers" width="1600" height="1134" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/51543531.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/51543531-768x544.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">Larry Bird, Reggie Miller, Indiana Pacers. (Vince Bucci/AFP/Getty Images)</p>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Greatest head coach in Indiana Pacers history: Larry Bird, 1997-00</h2>
<p>Great players often make terrible coaches, unable to translate their instincts and abilities into helpful teaching and guidance. Sometimes, they make incredible coaches, as their understanding of the game and team dynamics a distinct advantage. In rare cases, they make good coaches and front-office executives.</p>
<p>That’s the case with Larry Bird, one of the greatest players to ever play the game. After starring for the Boston Celtics and serving with their front office, Bird returned home to his native state to become the Indiana Pacers’ head coach in 1997.</p>
<p>A former ABA team, the Pacers did not find much success in the NBA until they drafted Reggie Miller and the team they crafted around him became a perennial playoff team. Yet friction between the team and head coach Larry Brown led to the coach resigning to join the Philadelphia 76ers, leaving an opening that Bird filled.</p>
<p>In just three seasons with the Pacers, Bird led them further into the postseason than they had ever been before, including to the 2000 NBA Finals. His Pacers teams never won fewer than nine games in the postseason, falling to Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls in 1998 and Patrick Ewing’s New York Knicks in 1999 before winning the Eastern Conference in 2000.</p>
<p>The Los Angeles Lakers’ Shaquille O’Neal and a young Kobe Bryant would take down Miller and the Pacers in six games, the final days of Bird’s coaching career.</p>
<p>Bird’s peak coaching with the Pacers outweighs the longevity of a coach such as Frank Vogel, who had a largely successful run in Indiana but could never break through to the NBA Finals. Bobby Leonard coached 13 seasons in the ABA and NBA with Indiana, but his success in the ABA (three titles) was not carried over into the NBA.</p>
<p>Bird would go on to run the Pacers’ front office for many years, earning NBA Executive of the Year in 2012. That makes him the only player in league history to win an MVP, NBA Coach of the Year and NBA Executive of the Year. At least part of what made Bird special on the court helped him to be special on the sideline as well.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Los Angeles Clippers </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_360665" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img class="wp-image-360665 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2130,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1131638579.jpeg" alt="Doc Rivers, Los Angeles Clippers" width="3200" height="2130" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1131638579.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1131638579-768x511.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Doc Rivers, Los Angeles Clippers. (Photo by Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images)</p>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Greatest head coach in Los Angeles Clippers history: Doc Rivers, 2013-2020</h2>
<p>Most franchises experience a variety of highs and lows over time, with successful runs spaced between periods of rebuilding or struggle. For the Los Angeles Clippers, most of their 49-year history is simply lows and lower lows.</p>
<p>Only in the past decade has the narrative on the Clippers began to change, with the first successful core coming together in 2011. The team in recent years has gained a new owner, a new front office and most recently added the first major superstar free-agent signing in franchise history.</p>
<p>The coach overseeing the past six years of the Clippers can lay an easy claim to the title of the best coach in franchise history. Doc Rivers came to Los Angeles with championship clout. While the Clippers have not made it to the NBA Finals, they have gained respectability, due in large part to the personality and professionalism of their head coach.</p>
<p>Only one coach in Clippers franchise history has won more than 215 games and that is Rivers at 307. He has the highest winning percentage in franchise history at .624. His teams have always finished with a winning record, despite an often high amount of turnover. Only eight times before Rivers came did the Clippers ever have a winning record; two more years and he will likely have doubled that total.</p>
<p>Rivers is the only Clippers coach to win more than one playoff series and has led his teams to the playoffs in five of his six seasons. After winning 26 playoff games in 43 seasons, Rivers has won another 20 in six. Unlike many successful coaches, his success is not tied to a specific player, as the Clippers have completely turned over their roster and still stayed a winning team.</p>
<p>Given their status as title favorites this upcoming year, the Clippers and Rivers should only add to his totals. He will be hard to catch as the greatest coach in the history of a franchise that is finally seeing its time in the sun.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Los Angeles Lakers </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_360666" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img class="wp-image-360666 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2160,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F923154930.jpeg" alt="Pat Riley, Michael Cooper, Los Angeles Lakers" width="3200" height="2160" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/923154930.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/923154930-768x518.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Pat Riley, Michael Cooper, Los Angeles Lakers. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)</p>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Greatest head coach in Los Angeles Lakers history: Pat Riley, 1981-90</h2>
<p>If the history of the Los Angeles Clippers is a series of lows without the highs, the Los Angeles Lakers have seen their history be the exact opposite to their Staples Center roommates. Other than the past half-decade, this is a franchise with seven decades of history as a winner at the highest level.</p>
<p>Therefore identifying the best coach in franchise history is a difficult task. 16 different coaches have finished their Lakers coaching careers with a winning record. As a franchise, they have played 734 playoff games, the most all time. The team has gone to the NBA Finals 31 times, with 16 championships in five separate decades.</p>
<p>John Kundla is a name not known to many modern fans, but he won five NBA championships from 1949 to 1954 as the NBA was just getting off the ground. Only two men have ever won more. Yet he did so in a tiny league with a superstar in George Mikan they changed the rules to contain.</p>
<p>During the period dominated by the Lakers’ rivals in the Boston Celtics, a handful of Lakers coaches were unable to break through to win a title. That changed under the leadership of Bill Sharman, who won the 1972 title and coached the 33-game winning streak that still stands as the longest in NBA history.</p>
<p>Other coaches saw significant success with the team, including Paul Westhead coaching the team to the 1979-80 NBA Championship and Del Harris winning NBA Coach of the Year in 1995. Yet even with this series of successful coaches, the decision comes down to Phil Jackson and Pat Riley.</p>
<p>Jackson coached the team in two stints from 1999 to 2011, with a year off in 2004-05. He won three titles with Shaquille O’Neal and a young Kobe Bryant, then returned to the NBA Finals from 2008 to 2010 for another two titles with Bryant and Pau Gasol. His 610 regular season and 118 playoff victories are both the most in franchise history.</p>
<p>Even with those impressive statistics, Riley wins this competition by a whisker. He won four titles in the 1980s with the Lakers, appearing in the NBA Finals in a whopping seven of his nine seasons.</p>
<p>His .733 winning percentage is elite, by far the best in franchise history among coaches who coached at least a full season. If the NBA had a four-round playoff structure when he began coaching (not to mention a seven-game first round, which was added in 2003) he most likely would have matched Jackson in playoff wins.</p>
<p>Riley, like Jackson, found success with other teams, simply more proof of his value as a coach. In a decade of stars, no team burned as bright as the Lakers in the 1980s. Riley was every bit the star as his players. His legacy is the greatest among a pantheon of great Lakers coaches.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Memphis Grizzlies </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_360667" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img class="wp-image-360667 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2266,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F169713757.jpeg" alt="Lionel Hollins" width="3200" height="2266" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/169713757.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/169713757-768x544.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Lionel Hollins. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)</p>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Greatest head coach in Memphis Grizzlies history: Lionel Hollins, 2009-13</h2>
<p>In 1995, the NBA expanded into Canada, adding the Toronto Raptors and the Vancouver Grizzlies. The Toronto Raptors recently broke through to bring the first basketball title to Canada. The Grizzlies, in contrast, couldn’t sustain in Vancouver and moved to Memphis in 2001.</p>
<p>Since the move, the team has seen two spikes of success, both centered around the Gasol brothers. In 2004, the team made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, with Pau Gasol and head coach Hubie Brown leading the way. After Pau was traded for his brother Marc Gasol, the team swooned back into a down spell.</p>
<p>That ended as Marc found his groove alongside guard Mike Conley and head coach Lionel Hollins led the team back to the postseason in 2011. The team would make the playoffs three straight seasons under Hollins, including a push to the Western Conference Finals in 2013.</p>
<p>Hollins’ 196 wins are first by a mile in franchise history and his 18 career playoff wins are more than every other coach combined. The “Grit ‘N Grind” Grizzlies that he built into a contender stayed together for as long as possible after Hollins left, making the postseason under Dave Joerger and David Fizdale as well.</p>
<p>There is no overwhelming coaching record here to hold up and Hollins hasn’t done much to prove himself at other stops. What is certain is Hollins’ success is greater than anyone else’s in Memphis. With an exciting young core in place, perhaps the Grizzlies’ future has the next great head coach on the horizon?</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Miami Heat </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_360668" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img class="wp-image-360668 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F460859790.jpeg" alt="Dwyane Wade, Erik Spoelstra, Miami Heat" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/460859790.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/460859790-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Dwyane Wade, Erik Spoelstra, Miami Heat. (Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images)</p>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Greatest head coach in Miami Heat history: Erik Spoelstra, 2008-Present</h2>
<p>No team in the NBA has employed as few coaches-per-season-played as the Miami Heat. Since their inception in 1988, only six men have walked the Miami sideline as head coach, including 36 games Alvin Gentry coached as an interim coach in 1995.</p>
<p>After a slow start, the Heat have been consistently stout for the past 25 years under the leadership of three men. Pat Riley coached 849 games for the franchise, one of the highest totals for any coach on any team, but just second in Heat history. He won 454 games and the 2006 NBA Championship with Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal as his star players.</p>
<p>Stan Van Gundy oversaw the early years of Wade, as the Heat fought in the early 2000s, winning over 60 percent of his games in both the regular season and postseason. With just two seasons under his belt before Riley returned to take over as coach, he impressed more with the Orlando Magic at his next stop.</p>
<p>The most successful coach in Miami Heat history is Erik Spoelstra, the second heir to Riley’s Miami throne, who coached so well he kept the position when the team suddenly became a superteam overnight in 2010. Few coaches around the league are as respected as “Spo” is, working tirelessly and instilling a strong culture in his squads.</p>
<p>Spoelstra has now coached 11 seasons with the team, totaling 523 wins in 886 regular-season games and another 71 playoff victories. Four times has Miami made the NBA Finals with Spoelstra, winning it all in 2012 and 2013.</p>
<p>As the team has flipped over its entire roster in recent years (sans Udonis Haslem), Spoelstra has demonstrated his worth, keeping that same team culture and not allowing the team to fold no matter the roster makeup or health.</p>
<p>The franchise has been lucky to have such a collection of talented head coaches. Riley’s time as the head coach would have led the list for many franchises. In Miami, Spoelstra’s ability to keep his job and excel with LeBron James, followed by success without him, shows that he is a gifted coach and worthy of recognition.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Milwaukee Bucks </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_360669" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img class="wp-image-360669 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F96361991.jpeg" alt="Don Nelson, Milwaukee Bucks" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/96361991.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/96361991-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Don Nelson, Milwaukee Bucks. (Photo by Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images)</p>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Greatest head coach in Milwaukee Bucks history: Don Nelson, 1976-87</h2>
<p>Current fans of the Milwaukee Bucks may be witnessing the next great team, with star Giannis Antetokounmpo dominating in a system built to maximize his talents by head coach Mike Budenholzer. He did one of the most difficult feats in basketball, to join a good team and make them great.</p>
<p>Yet the future is unwritten and Milwaukee has a long history of successful coaches. George Karl oversaw teams around the turn of the century that made the Eastern Conference Finals. Del Harris won 191 games with the franchise in the late 1980s. At the start, Larry Costello got the accolades and job security that came with coaching Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, including the franchise’s only title.</p>
<p>Don Nelson took over the Bucks after Costello and coached them to nine winning seasons in his 11 years with the team. He instituted a distinct and unique offense revolving around strong passers at the forward position, with Marques Johnson and Paul Pressey some of the first “point forwards” in NBA history.</p>
<p>No coach since Nelson has totaled even half of his 884 games or 540 wins with the team. His 42 postseason wins match the total of all those who followed him. No coach in NBA history has more than Nelson’s 1,335 wins, amassed over 24 years with four different teams.</p>
<p>What the future holds no one can know, but the past paints a clear picture. Nelson, a well-known figure in the history of multiple franchises, kept the Bucks highly productive throughout his career.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Minnesota Timberwolves </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_360670" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img class="wp-image-360670 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F467297054.jpeg" alt="Flip Saunders, Minnesota Timberwolves" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/467297054.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/467297054-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Flip Saunders, Minnesota Timberwolves. (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)</p>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Greatest head coach in Minnesota Timberwolves history: Flip Saunders, 1995-05, 2014-15</h2>
<p>Only two coaches in the three decades of Minnesota Timberwolves basketball have made it to the postseason. Tom Thibodeau coached the 2017-18 Timberwolves there a season ago, playing five games and winning just one of them. Otherwise, 11 other coaches have failed to make the postseason whatsoever in the Twin Cities.</p>
<p>The one coach who did make it was Flip Saunders, who along with Kevin Garnett saw the only consistently successful basketball in the history of the franchise. While the next longest tenure as a Timberwolves coach was three seasons and 230 games, Saunders coached 819 games and tallied 427 wins in the regular season.</p>
<p>In the postseason, he coached 47 total games in eight different seasons, the peak coming in 2004 when Saunders and the Timberwolves made it to the Western Conference Finals, losing in six games to the Los Angeles Lakers. The next season would start a playoff drought that would stretch until 2018 and the franchise has not won a playoff series since.</p>
<p>Kevin McHale coached the team for two brief stints, taking over initially for Saunders in 2005 and again for Randy Wittman in 2008. Rick Adelman oversaw the Kevin Love era in Minnesota where the team fought close to, but never made it into, the postseason.</p>
<p>Everyone who follows basketball would acknowledge Saunders as the greatest coach in the history of the franchise and along with Garnett is the most beloved figure in team history as well. Although he has since passed away, his legacy lives on as his son Ryan Saunders is the current coach, seeking to live up to his father’s legacy.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> New Orleans Pelicans </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_360671" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img class="wp-image-360671 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F92942930.jpeg" alt="Byron Scott" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/92942930.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/92942930-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Byron Scott. (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)</p>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Greatest head coach in New Orleans Pelicans history: Byron Scott, 2004-2009</h2>
<p>With the reforming of an NBA team in Charlotte, the New Orleans Pelicans now chart their birth back to just 2002, when the team first moved to New Orleans. Over those past 17 seasons, the team has had only six coaches, leaving only a few options to choose from.</p>
<p>Of those six, three coached for 82 games or fewer and three coached for over 300 games each. Alvin Gentry, the current coach as of this writing, dealt with injuries and a pining star in Anthony Davis and never put everything together. He will get a new chance with top pick Zion Williamson and a rebuilt core. Gentry replaced Monty Williams, one of the league’s most well-liked figures, but who did a middling job of overseeing Davis’ development.</p>
<p>The best years in New Orleans came before the Davis era when the team’s star was instead a point guard name Chris Paul. Byron Scott coached for five seasons in New Orleans upon leaving the then-New Jersey Nets, coaching in a franchise-high 419 games with 203 wins. His 17 postseason games and eight wins are likewise franchise highs.</p>
<p>Scott never took the team to elite heights, but no other New Orleans coach has. The history of this specific franchise has been more muted, with two series wins in just under two decades.</p>
<p>Scott is not a flashy or household name, but he made it onto this list for two separate franchises. He is and was a solid coach, capable of directing good teams into the playoffs. Not every coach can say the same thing.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> New York Knicks </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_360904" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img class="wp-image-360904 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2132,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F967234046.jpeg" alt="Red Holzman, New York Knicks" width="3200" height="2132" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/967234046.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/967234046-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Red Holzman, New York Knicks. (Photo by Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images)</p>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Greatest head coach in New York Knicks history: William “Red” Holzman, 1967-77, 1978-82</h2>
<p>Recent history for the New York Knicks has been a series of disappointments and broken promises. The false hope of ever contending a championship has hung over this franchise for decades. Yet the Knicks did not cultivate such a devoted fanbase by being terrible for their entire history.</p>
<p>In the 1990s, the Knicks made a pair of runs to the NBA Finals, losing to the Houston Rockets in 1994 under Pat Riley’s direction and in 1999 losing to the San Antonio Spurs with Jeff Van Gundy roaming the sidelines.</p>
<p>The team’s true success came years before Riley and Van Gundy when the Knicks were something akin to a powerhouse. The team made nine straight postseasons from 1966 to 1975, the final eight of which came under William “Red” Holzman’s guidance.</p>
<p>Three times did the Knicks make the NBA Finals during that stretch, winning two titles in 1970 and 1973. He won 613 regular-season games, 287 more than the next highest total (Joe Lapchick).</p>
<p>In the NBA playoffs, his 54 wins are also a franchise high. Holzman’s part in establishing the Knicks as one of the most popular and profitable teams in the country deserves a nod.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Oklahoma City Thunder </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_360905" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img class="wp-image-360905 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2160,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F484363034.jpeg" alt="Lenny Wilkens, Seattle SuperSonics" width="3200" height="2160" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/484363034.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/484363034-768x518.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Lenny Wilkens, Seattle SuperSonics. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)</p>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Greatest head coach in Oklahoma City Thunder history: Lenny Wilkens, 1969-72, 1977-85</h2>
<p>Mentioning the Oklahoma City Thunder is likely to draw to mind the players who have recently played for the franchise, such as Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant or James Harden. Mentioning the Seattle SuperSonics may do something similar, drawing to mind Gary Payton or Jack Sikma.</p>
<p>What is unlikely to happen is for a head coach to come to mind because only in very rare circumstances does a coach become the most recognizable figure for a franchise. Yet without the accolades and the publicity, head coaches such as Lenny Wilkens still do their job and do it well.</p>
<p>From 1977 to 1985, Wilkens coached Seattle, taking them to two NBA Finals, including one victory. He won 402 total games with the team, plus an additional 37 postseason bouts. After losing to the then-Washington Bullets in a seven-game series in 1978, the Sonics returned and won the rematch in five games in 1979.</p>
<p>Interestingly enough, that was Wilkens’ second stint with the franchise, as he served as a player-coach for three seasons from 1969 to 1972. He returned five years later to lead the franchise to its highest heights.</p>
<p>Other talented coaches have overseen the franchise, from George Karl coaching the Sonics to the NBA Finals in the 1990s to Scott Brooks doing the same in the 2010s with the Thunder. It’s a close decision, but Wilkens’ combination of longevity and a title make him the greatest coach in the history of the SuperSonics/Thunder.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Orlando Magic </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_360906" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img class="wp-image-360906 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F143315804.jpeg" alt="Stan Van Gundy" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/143315804.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/143315804-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Stan Van Gundy. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)</p>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Greatest head coach in Orlando Magic history: Stan Van Gundy, 2007-12</h2>
<p>Another expansion team to join the league in the late 1980s, the Orlando Magic have a consistent method of operation that has proven true over the years of their existence as a franchise. Most of the time, the team is mediocre or worse, unable to sustain success.</p>
<p>Yet when the team gets its hands on a Hall of Fame center, suddenly they skyrocket into the contending mix. That was Brian Hill in the early 1990s when the team drafted Shaquille O’Neal and started winning, even getting to the 1995 NBA Finals. O’Neal eventually left for the Los Angeles Lakers and a period of inconsistency began for the team.</p>
<p>That culminated under Stan Van Gundy’s watch, who took over as the head coach of the Magic in 2007. The former Miami Heat coach immediately began placing his imprint on the team, influencing a roster that would inject the entire league with a new strategy for team-building.</p>
<p>Van Gundy, armed with a talented young center in Dwight Howard, designed an offensive system where the floor was spaced around a dynamic big man. Hedo Turkoglu initiated the offense from the wing, while players such as Rashard Lewis and Ryan Anderson spotted up around Howard. The team made it to the 2009 NBA Finals.</p>
<p>The partnership of O’Neal and Hill brought just 209 wins to the Magic during their tenure, but Van Gundy fared better. By contrast, Howard and Van Gundy totaled 290 in just one more season. While this team has not amassed a large hit list of suspects, Van Gundy’s work changed not only the franchise but the league itself.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Philadelphia 76ers </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_360907" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img class="wp-image-360907 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2160,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F903568154.jpeg" alt="Billy Cunningham, Philadelphia 76ers" width="3200" height="2160" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/903568154.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/903568154-768x518.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Billy Cunningham, Philadelphia 76ers. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)</p>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Greatest head coach in Philadelphia 76ers history: Billy Cunningham, 1977-85</h2>
<p>For all the flash of the “Showtime” Los Angeles Lakers, and The Legend of Larry Bird, few people give credit to the Philadelphia 76ers for their success in the late 1970s and into the 1980s. Seven times did the team reached the Eastern Conference Finals, including four trips to the NBA Finals and a title in 1983.</p>
<p>Those rosters were stacked with the likes of Moses Malone, Julius Erving, Maurice Cheeks and Bobby Jones. That collection of two-way talent was managed by Billy Cunningham, who spent eight seasons leading the team in the late 1970s and early 1980s.</p>
<p>Many coaches have had success with the 76ers. The franchise’s first five coaches all finished their Sixers careers with a winning record (the first few as the Syracuse Nationals, technically). Larry Brown led the team back to the NBA Finals in 2001 where Philadelphia ran into the steam engine that was Shaquille O’Neal in his prime.</p>
<p>Despite the various successes, no coach hit the high that Cunningham got to. 454 wins blow the next-best total out of the water, as does his 66 playoff games coached. For sustained success even when the rest of the Eastern Conference was loading up around him, Cunningham gets the nod here.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Phoenix Suns </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_361701" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img class="wp-image-361701 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1065,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F79611640.jpeg" alt="Steve Nash, Mike D'Antoni, Phoenix Suns" width="1600" height="1065" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/79611640.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/79611640-768x511.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">Steve Nash, Mike D’Antoni, Phoenix Suns. (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)</p>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Greatest head coach in Phoenix Suns history: Mike D’Antoni, 2003-08</h2>
<p>It’s possible to overthink a decision such as choosing the greatest coach in the history of the franchise. That can be especially true for a franchise such as the Phoenix Suns, which was founded in 1968 and has had many strong seasons and good coaches.</p>
<p>John MacLeod took the Suns to the playoffs nine times in 10 years during the 1970s and 1980s, winning a franchise-high 579 games in the process. Cotton Fitzsimmons twice went to the Western Conference Finals during the late 1980s. Paul Westphal coached a Charles Barkley-led squad to the 1993 NBA Finals a loss to the Chicago Bulls.</p>
<p>While all impressive, what Mike D’Antoni did as head coach of the Suns was not only win a lot of games but begin the transformation of NBA offense from a relatively static production to an innovative, statistically sound pursuit. His legacy as a coach is not simply 253 wins with the Suns, but a new way to look at offensive basketball.</p>
<p>In five seasons with the Suns, D’Antoni won 54 games or more four times, twice making it to the Western Conference Finals. The “Seven Seconds or Less” offense was dominant and captivating. D’Antoni helped develop point guard Steve Nash into an NBA MVP. While his teams never made it to the title game, his impact on the game while coaching the Suns makes him the choice here.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Portland Trail Blazers </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_361702" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img class="wp-image-361702 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2160,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F912829582.jpeg" alt="Rick Adelman, Portland Trail Blazers" width="3200" height="2160" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/912829582.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/912829582-768x518.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Rick Adelman, Portland Trail Blazers. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)</p>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Greatest head coach in Portland Trail Blazers history: Rick Adelman, 1988-94</h2>
<p>The Portland Trail Blazers got off to a slow start as a franchise, finishing with a losing record each of their first six seasons in the league. Then under head coach Jack Ramsay, they made it into the postseason, all the way to an NBA title in his first season as coach in 1977.</p>
<p>It seemed like Ramsey and star center Bill Walton would lead the team back to the NBA Finals multiple times, but Walton’s injury issues held the team back from being consistently great. Even so, Ramsay tallied 453 wins during his time with the team, the most in franchise history.</p>
<p>Over the next few decades, several other head coaches saw success in Portland, with Mike Schuler, Rick Adelman, Mike Dunleavy and Terry Stotts all posting win percentages of at least .567 with the team. Of the group, Adelman stands out as the most successful.</p>
<p>In a Western Conference ruled by the Los Angeles Lakers and stocked with other strong teams such as the Houston Rockets and the Phoenix Suns, the Trail Blazers under Adelman still managed to fight their way to the NBA Finals twice in 1990 and 1992.</p>
<p>While they lost both times to famous teams — the “Bad Boy” Detroit Pistons and Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls, respectively — the Trail Blazers fought a lot of good teams to get there each time out of the Western Conference.</p>
<p>Portland won 65 percent of its regular-season games while Adelman was the coach. He is the only Portland coach with an above-.500 winning percentage in the postseason. He totaled a franchise-high 36 postseason wins during his six seasons with the team. That postseason success earns him the spot as the greatest head coach in Trail Blazers history.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Sacramento Kings </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_361703" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img class="wp-image-361703 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F52068342.jpeg" alt="Rick Adelman, Sacramento Kings" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/52068342.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/52068342-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Rick Adelman, Sacramento Kings. (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)</p>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Greatest head coach in Sacramento Kings history: Rick Adelman, 1998-04</h2>
<p>Recent history has shown the position of Sacramento Kings head coach to be a short and largely unsuccessful one, doomed to fail due to a combination of ownership support, poor front office management and placement in a perennially difficult division.</p>
<p>For 13 straight seasons and nine straight head coaches, the Kings have posted a losing record and failed to make it to the postseason. This is not unusual for a franchise that has been around since 1948 but has a franchise winning percentage of just .456. Coaches such as Lester Harrison or Cotton Fitzsimmons were only able to find brief windows of success.</p>
<p>That is why the time when Rick Adelman manned the sideline is so impressive for the franchise. From 1998 to 2006, the Kings won over 63 percent of their regular-season games, making Adelman easily the most prolific coach in franchise history with 395 wins.</p>
<p>He found some amount of postseason success as well, qualifying all eight seasons and tallying 34 of the team’s 80 all-time playoff wins. In 2002, the team came as close to winning the Western Conference as any team has ever come without actually winning it, losing in seven games to the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers.</p>
<p>The sustained success of Adelman’s term with the team is impressive and all the more so, given the barren lack of any success on either side of his time with the team. From 1986 to 2019, the team made the playoffs just nine times, eight of them coming in his eight seasons. With ease, Adelman is the choice for the greatest coach in franchise history.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> San Antonio Spurs </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_361704" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img class="wp-image-361704 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1219,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F2134500.jpeg" alt="David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Gregg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs" width="1600" height="1219" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/2134500.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/2134500-768x585.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Gregg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs. (JEFF HAYNES/AFP/Getty Images)</p>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Greatest head coach in San Antonio Spurs history: Gregg Popovich, 1996-Present</h2>
<p>There is due diligence that needs to be done when discussing the San Antonio Spurs and their coaching history. In the ABA, San Antonio was a middling team compared to powerhouses in New York and Denver, but Cliff Hagan found success with the squad. Later coaches such as Doug Moe, Larry Brown and Bob Hill all posted winning records with the team overall.</p>
<p>When Gregg Popovich fired Hill and stepped from the front office onto the sideline to coach the team, he began the single greatest period of coaching for a single team that the NBA has ever seen, before or since. Over the past 22 seasons, the Spurs have made the playoffs 22 times, a streak that is still active as of this writing.</p>
<p>Popovich has proven his success was not based on one star, although the quiet leadership and excellent play of Tim Duncan was certainly a major part of the culture that has been developed there.</p>
<p>He won with a young Duncan and an aging David Robinson, he won with a prime Duncan paired with a young Tony Parker, he won with an aging Duncan and prime Parker and he won with a young Kawhi Leonard with an aging cast.</p>
<p>In just under 23 seasons as head coach, he has totaled 1,245 wins, third-most all time and by far the most for any coach with just one team. His 170 playoff wins are a staggering amount, more than many NBA franchises have in their entire history. Popovich is a three-time NBA Coach of the Year and a five-time NBA champion.</p>
<p>What is most impressive about Popovich is the sustained success of the team. 22 straight trips to the postseason is an NBA record and for it to happen in the modern era with 30 teams is staggering.</p>
<p>For 18 straight seasons during that run, the Spurs won 50 or more games. No coach can even come close to the excellence that has been Popovich as an NBA head coach. The Spurs are the thankful recipients of that coaching excellence.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Toronto Raptors </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_361705" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img class="wp-image-361705 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1128563456.jpeg" alt="Dwane Casey, Toronto Raptors" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1128563456.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1128563456-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Dwane Casey, Toronto Raptors. (Photo by Chris Schwegler/NBAE via Getty Images)</p>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Greatest head coach in Toronto Raptors history: Dwane Casey, 2011-18</h2>
<p>To dwell most specifically in the present day of any of these teams, the Toronto Raptors are currently basking in the sun of an NBA title, the first in franchise history. Head coach Nick Nurse deserves a lot of credit for his bold decisions, particular rotations and creative schemes. Writing this piece in another 10 years may mean Nurse gaining recognition as the greatest coach in franchise history.</p>
<p>One season is not enough to prove his overall mettle as a coach, even if it was a spectacular one. The roster than he had was in part new, but in part built on the player development of the man who came before him.</p>
<p>Under the watch of Dwane Casey, players crucial to the team’s success such as Kyle Lowry, Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet developed from low draft picks to strong impact players. Even players that were later flipped for key veteran contributors were developed under Casey’s watch.</p>
<p>The Raptors are a young franchise and in their brief history have struggled to develop sustained success around their star players. Lenny Wilkens made the postseason with Vince Carter and won a single playoff series, while Sam Mitchell coached in the playoffs with Chris Bosh, but won just three total games in two trips.</p>
<p>What Casey brought was sustainability, building a core of young players that won consistently year after year. In 16 years before Casey’s term as head coach, the franchise played in 31 playoff games and won 11 of them. In his seven seasons, the team made the playoffs five times, winning 21 playoff games and four series overall.</p>
<p>Casey did not have the in-game chops or a true two-way star on the wing to get through an Eastern Conference ruled by LeBron James. His successor Nurse was handed the two-way star in Kawhi Leonard and never had to go through James, so it is hard to completely dock Casey for that.</p>
<p>He should receive credit for building something real in Toronto, even if another coach had to see it through to the title. For now, Casey remains the greatest coach in the history of Canadian NBA basketball.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Utah Jazz </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_361706" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img class="wp-image-361706 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1057706670.jpeg" alt="Jerry Sloan, John Stockton, Utah Jazz" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1057706670.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1057706670-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Jerry Sloan, John Stockton, Utah Jazz. (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)</p>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Greatest head coach in Utah Jazz history: Jerry Sloan, 1988-11</h2>
<p>Some people spend so much time in a certain place that they are forever linked. The cast of <em>Friends</em> will always be identified with that show, no matter the other television and movies the actors star in.</p>
<p>Brett Favre is a Green Bay Packer, despite his late-career stint with the Minnesota Vikings. Michael Jordan may as well have never played for the Washington Wizards, nor Hakeem Olajuwon with the Toronto Raptors.</p>
<p>The same goes for Jerry Sloan, who coached the Utah Jazz for 23 seasons through all the ups and downs. He took Karl Malone and John Stockton, helped turn them into one of the greatest pairings in NBA history. Sloan then continued as a Utah and NBA institution with the Jazz until his retirement in 2011.</p>
<p>None of the five Jazz coaches who preceded Sloan posted a career winning percentage with the team, although Frank Layden won the first few playoff series in franchise history. In the most recent years of Jazz basketball, Quin Snyder has racked up 227 wins in five seasons.</p>
<p>Yet the sheer length of Sloan’s time with the Jazz is staggering. He totaled 1,127 wins for Utah, a single-team total matched only by Gregg Popovich, who in 2019-20 will pass Sloan for seasons coaching a single team. The Jazz went to the postseason 19 times during Sloan’s tenure, winning 96 games, including two trips to the NBA Finals in losing efforts to Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls.</p>
<p>Jerry Sloan is Jazz basketball as far as most fans of the team are concerned. The combination of Sloan, Stockton and Malone is one of the greatest in league history. His sheer volume alone might be worth this nod, but he combined it with excellence on and off the court.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Washington Wizards </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_361707" class="wp-caption aligncenter">
<img class="wp-image-361707 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2160,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F923123774.jpeg" alt="Dick Motta" width="3200" height="2160" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/923123774.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/923123774-768x518.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Dick Motta. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)</p>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Greatest head coach in Washington Bullets history: Dick Motta, 1976-80</h2>
<p>Another team that wants to hang its hat on past success over present failings, the Washington Wizards were once the Washington Bullets (and before that the Baltimore Bullets and before that the Chicago Zephyrs for a season). The history of the Bullets has a bit more success than that of the Wizards.</p>
<p>That success peaked in the late 1970s with Dick Motta, who led the franchise twice to the NBA Finals, winning the 1978 NBA Championship over the then-Seattle SuperSonics. Motta proved to be the perfect coach for star center Wes Unseld and forward Elvin Hayes.</p>
<div class="recent-posts">
<h4>More from <b>All-Time Lists</b></h4>
<ul><li>
<a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://hoopshabit.com/2022/08/14/ranking-nba-small-market-teams/">Ranking the NBA’s small market teams
</a></li><li>
<a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://hoopshabit.com/2022/08/13/los-angeles-lakers-mount-rushmore/">Selecting the Los Angeles Lakers’ Mount Rushmore
</a></li><li>
<a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/">One Final Game: The last great performance for NBA legends
</a></li><li>
<a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://hoopshabit.com/2021/10/19/ranking-75-best-players-nba-history-75th-anniversary/">Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history for 75th anniversary
</a></li><li>
<a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"https://hoopshabit.com/2021/08/28/nba-one-player-forgot-played-favorite-team/">NBA: One player you forgot played for your favorite team
</a></li></ul>
</div>
<p>The Bullets had made it to the NBA Finals twice before, swept by Lew Alcindor and the Milwaukee Bucks in 1971 and by the Golden State Warriors in 1975. Motta and the 1978 team finally got the franchise over the hump.</p>
<p>In total, he won 185 regular-season games in his four seasons, a .564 winning percentage that remains the best in franchise history. He also won 27 playoff games, roughly twice the second-highest total.</p>
<p>What perhaps stands out the most of Motta’s success with the team is how bad the franchise has been since he coached them.</p>
<p>In 39 seasons since his time with the team, Washington has been to the playoffs just 15 times, winning only five series and never more than once in the same year. Motta’s time with the team was brief, but it was impactful all the more since it has not been even somewhat replicated.</p>
<div class="fs-shortcode" data-type="StoryLink" data-theme="dark" data-text="NBA mascot power rankings, best past and present" data-url="http://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/17/nba-mascot-power-rankings-best-past-present/" data-call-to-action="Next"> <div class="story-link-next"> <a class="story-link-next-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="story-link-next-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/19/nba-greatest-head-coach-teams-franchise-history/"http://hoopshabit.com/2019/07/17/nba-mascot-power-rankings-best-past-present/"> <span class="call_to_action">Next:</span> NBA mascot power rankings, best past and present </a> </div>
</div>
<p>From Gregg Popovich to Pat Riley, Phil Jackson to Red Auerbach, the NBA has had many incredibly talented and successful head coaches grace its sidelines. The past of the NBA is rich in personalities and history and its future could burn even brighter.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">