The NBA is a league where talent wins championships. A coach's effect on the roster is often overlooked, but some coaches make that impossible. The following list is a compilation of the greatest winners, motivators, and basketball minds in the history of the NBA. Let's look at the top 10 greatest NBA coaches of all time.
10 greatest NBA coaches of all time, ranked
10. Lenny Wilkens
Lenny Wilkens patrolled the sidelines for 35 seasons in the NBA and coached almost 2,500 games. He ended his career with 1,332 wins, an astonishing feat considering the players he coached during his tenure. He made the playoffs 20 times in his career but never had the pleasure of coaching a Hall-of-Fame player. Wilkens won one NBA Championship with the Seattle Supersonics, led by Jack Sikma, Dennis Johnson, and Gus Williams. He took the theory that you need superstar talent to win in the NBA and threw it back in everyone's face. He used the media's doubt in his teams to motivate his players to overcome the adversity. It's too bad we didn't get to see Wilkens coach a team with more talent, but maybe his career would have gone differently if he hadn't been in the underdog role.
9. Larry Brown
Larry Brown didn't win as many NBA championships as the guys higher on the list. It wasn't for a lack of good coaching but his propensity to take failing franchises and turn them around. He took on the job at the New Jersey Nets, Los Angeles Clippers, Indiana Pacers, and San Antonio Spurs and turned them from losing teams to winners. His one NBA title came when he took a bunch of role players on the Detroit Pistons on a Cinderella run through the 2004 NBA playoffs. The run ended with a finals win over the Los Angeles Lakers, who had four Hall-of-Famers on their roster. There are plenty of better winners and motivators on this list, but Brown might be at the top with the X's and O's of coaching. He finished his career with over 1,300 wins.
If his NBA accolades weren't enough, he also led the Kansas Jayhawks to the 1988 NCAA National Championship.
8. Chuck Daly
Chuck Daly was more unheralded than other names on this list, but you can't deny his strategies worked. His idea to play bully ball with the Bad Boy Pistons may have had mixed reviews, but the two NBA titles in Daly's trophy case don't seem to care. The Showtime Lakers and the Boston Celtics were playing high-energy basketball during the 1980s, but Daly and the Detroit Pistons came in with their hard-nosed style and made three-straight NBA finals. They lost in 1988 but won back-to-back in 1989 and 1990. He may not have been the first, but Daly adopted the “defense wins championships” style and ran with it. If it hadn't been for the Bulls doing everything they could to combat the Pistons' style, Daly would have won more NBA Championships.
7. Jerry Sloan
If there was a list of the greatest coaches to never win an NBA championship, it might start and end with Jerry Sloan. Sloan coached the Utah Jazz to 15 straight playoff appearances from 1989 to 2003. While a coach's job security can be inconsistent, Sloan stuck with the Jazz for over three decades. His success was measured by leading the small-market squad to many playoff appearances, with John Stockton and Karl Malone as his only superstars. Sloan compiled 1,221 wins and a .603 winning percentage, and a couple of NBA titles would have vaulted him up the list. The most unfortunate thing for Sloan is that he was coaching as Michael Jordan was playing, and Utah could never get over the hump that was M.J.
6. K.C. Jones
Jones' coaching career wasn't as long as others, but he made the most of his time with the Celtics. He was a member of the Bill Russell Celtics teams as a player and won eight NBA titles in just nine seasons. Jones took a backseat to the team's stars, but his defensive ability was essential to the team's success. His humbleness as a player served him well in a head-coaching role, as he was a steady players coach. He was an assistant coach on various teams until 1978 when he returned to Boston to be their assistant. He took over the head-coaching job in 1984 and led the Celtics to five Eastern Conference championships and two NBA titles. The team's success makes Jones have the second-best winning percentage among coaches with over 700 games. The only coach with a higher mark is Phil Jackson.
5. Steve Kerr
Steve Kerr had the ultimate lesson in head coaching when he was led by Phil Jackson as a member of the Chicago Bulls. Kerr was there amidst the three-peats and undoubtedly learned what it took to win from Jackson and Michael Jordan. The fact that Kerr has had Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Kevin Durant in his corner for his success helps. However, it takes a special coach to manage all the egos, something Jackson made look easy during his coaching career. Kerr led the Warriors to five-straight NBA Finals appearances, and if it hadn't been for heroic performances by LeBron James, he would have more titles. He has still managed to win four NBA titles, and the team appears to be capable to win at least one more before the core retires.
Kerr currently has the third-highest regular-season winning percentage among coaches who have coached at least 700 games, trailing just Jackson and Jones.
4. Pat Riley
Pat Riley's ability to adapt to any situation has made him one of the greatest basketball minds. While the skill best suited him as a coach, he has since moved into the front office and been just as successful. He started as an associate coach with the Los Angeles Lakers in Magic Johnson's rookie season. He would win four NBA titles with the Lakers in the 1980s. In the 1990s, he took control of the New York Knicks and guided them to an NBA Finals appearance before losing to the Houston Rockets. Like many other coaches on this list, Riley coached legends such as Magic, Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, Patrick Ewing, and Dwayne Wade. He won his last title as coach when he took over the Miami Heat and created a brand of basketball suited for Shaquille O'Neal and Wade.
Many coaches run into the problem of not adapting their scheme to fit the personnel on the floor. However, Riley ran a run-and-gun style with the showtime Lakers, then played bully ball with the Knicks and Ewing, then perfected the half-court offense in Miami. Riley was also a three-time NBA Coach of the Year.
3. Gregg Popovich
Popovich's reach as a coach goes further than his wins and losses. This is saying something since he is currently the all-time wins leader for head coaches with 1,364. Popovich has won five NBA titles and is a three-time Coach of the Year. He had led the Spurs to 22 consecutive playoff appearances and was the league's most consistent coach. After a down year, he now gets to guide Victor Wembanyama in his quest to be the league's next great big man. After Popovich's success with Tim Duncan, the sky is the limit for Wembanyama.
As was said about Popovich's reach beyond his wins and losses, his style radiates throughout the NBA. Eleven former assistants have gone on to be head coaches and taken tips from Pop's coaching style and playbook. Eventually, due to Pop's longevity, you will see a league where over half of its teams are influenced by his style in some way.
2. Red Auerbach
Until the leader of the Chicago Bulls dynasty came around, no one thought that Auerbach could be taken off the mountaintop of the greatest coaches. Auerbach won eight titles in a row with the Celtics, coaching legends such as Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, and John Havlicek. Auerbach had a knack for the psychological side of the game long before it was made a priority in the coaching ranks. He convinced his team of all-stars to stop playing individually and sacrifice for the team. His teams went up against the stat-padding stars of the generation, like Wilt Chamberlain, and almost always came out on top.
When you look at an NBA sideline now, there are more coaches and support staff than players. In Auerbach's reign, he was the only member of the coaching staff. He employed no assistant head coaches and also made all the personnel decisions. We had to rank Auerbach as No. 2 for the ranking, but he and the guy we will learn about next is more of a 1A and 1B situation, considering they were in different eras, and it's hard to compare.
1. Phil Jackson
Phil Jackson is the winningest head coach in NBA history. He is an 11-time NBA champion and has three three-peats to his name. Jackson finished his career with back-to-back titles with the Lakers. He won three consecutive titles with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls from 1991 to 1993, then won three more with them from 1996 to 1998. Jackson then took control of the Lakers to lead another GOAT candidate, Kobe Bryant, and dominant center Shaquille O'Neal to three straight titles from 2000 to 2002. He and Kobe won two more titles in 2009 and 2010 after the Lakers traded Shaq to Miami to finish Jackson's legendary career.
Jackson was NBA Coach of the Year only once, a testament to how he never left the top as a coach more than not earning it. The award is usually given to a coach who led a team to acclaim after facing mediocrity, but Jackson never let his team be anything less than a contender. He has the highest regular-season winning percentage ever at .704 and has 1,155 wins in his career. His skills as a psychological mastermind were his greatest strength, as he reined in egos such as Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Kobe Bryant, and Shaquille O'Neal while also dealing with eccentric personalities like Dennis Rodman and Metta World Peace.
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