The NBA has a long history, and it has produced some of the finest teams and coaches in NBA history.
Of course, players would require exceptional talent and skill sets to succeed in the NBA. But the team also requires top-notch coaching. Although assessing a coach’s influence is difficult, a lot of the credit is given to the star players.
However, the teams require strategy, tactics, leadership, and collaboration to win a championship or any game. The team’s coach has the biggest influence in this situation.
Different plans and tactics are devised by coaches depending on the squad. Additionally, they must inspire the group and encourage each player to perform at their highest level. Every coach has a unique coaching philosophy and style.
We have therefore put together a list of the top 12 NBA coaches of all time in order to show them the appreciation they deserve for their efforts and labor.
The Top 12 NBA Coaches Ever
The list that is provided below was created using the coach’s career championship, postseason records, and regular season records.
The data was gathered from reputable websites, including The Bleacher Report and Athlon Sports. Therefore, let’s take a brief look at the table below before getting into the specifics.
| Ranking | Name | Championship |
| 12. | Larry Brown | 1 |
| 11. | Jerry Sloan | 0 |
| 10. | K.C. Jones | 2 |
| 9. | Don Nelson | 0 |
| 8. | William “Red” Holzman | 2 |
| 7. | John Kundla | 5 |
| 6. | Lenny Wilkens | 1 |
| 5. | Chuck Daly | 2 |
| 4. | Pat Riley | 5 |
| 3. | Gregg Popovich | 5 |
| 2. | Arnold “Red” Auerbach | 9 |
| 1. | Phil Jackson | 11 |
12. Larry Brown
Record during the regular season: 1,327-1,011
Final standings: 120-115
NBA titles won: 1
We’ll start this list of the top NBA coaches with Larry Brown, an 81-year-old American basketball coach. He played basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels men’s basketball team in the early 1960s. His real name is Lawrence Harvey Brown.
Brown began working as a head coach in 1969 at North Carolina’s Davidson College. In less than two months after leaving the position, he moved on to coaching some of the top NBA clubs.
Brown has coached NBA teams including the Carolina Cougars, Denver Nuggets, UCLA Bruins, New Jersey Nets, Kansas Spurs, and Los Angeles Clippers.
He also served as the head coach of the Charlotte Bobcats, SMU, Auxilium Torino, Detroit Pistons, Philadelphia 76ers, and Charlotte Hornets.
He is the first basketball coach in history to have captured both an NBA title and the NCCA national championship. Brown has also won the NBA Coach of the Year award, served as the head coach of the NBA All-Star Game twice, and won the ABA Coach of the Year three times.
Additionally, he has won the AAC Tournament, the Big Eight Tournament twice, the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Naismith College Coach of the Year accolades.
Larry was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002. He is Memphis’ assistant coach at the moment.
11. Jerry Sloan
1,223-803 is the regular-season record.
98-104 postseason record
NBA titles won: 0
Jerry Sloan comes next on our ranking of the top NBA coaches. He is thought to be one of the best and most admired NBA coaches in history.
On March 28, 1942, Gerald Eugene Sloan was born. Before beginning his professional coaching career, he played professionally in basketball. He participated in the NBA for 11 seasons as a player.
In his 30-year coaching tenure, Solan spent 23 of those years as the Utah Jazz’s head coach. He served as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls in addition to Utah. He was the head coach with the longest tenure in major league sports in the United States.
Due to Jerry’s flamboyant attitude, some tense situations resulted. His coaching style was more reliant on pick-and-roll settings and conventional lineups.
He was a very reliable coach, and by the time he retired, he had amassed 1,000 NBA victories, making him one of only two coaches in NBA history to do it with a single team.
Sloan was also one of only four coaches in NBA history to have a winning record for at least 15 straight seasons.
He has been received the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2009, Solan also became a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Jerry Sloan passed away on May 22, 2020, at the age of 78.
10. K.C. Jones
522-252 is the regular-season record.
Record in the playoffs: 81-57
NBA titles won: 2
K.C. Jones and Bill Russell were the only two African Americans to lead their teams to multiple NBA titles.
Jones was born in Taylor, Texas, on May 25, 1932. He played basketball professionally before changing careers to become a coach.
As a professional basketball player, he is tied in the third position for the most NBA championships and one of the three NBA players with an 8-0 record in NBA Final series.
Jones was the head coach at Brandeis University from 1967 until 1970. His coaching career was just beginning at the time. Harvard University, Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, Seattle SuperSonics, and Detroit Pistons were among the teams he assisted as a coach.
K.C. Jones led Brandeis, the San Diego Conquistadors, the Capital / Washington Bullets (now the Washington Wizards), the Boston Celtics, the Seattle SuperSonics, and the New England Blizzard as head coach.
Jones won two NBA titles as an assistant coach before going on to win two more as a head coach. He also served as the NBA All-Star Game’s head coach five times.
Jones was admitted to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1989.
He died on December 25, 2020, at the age of 88.
9. Don Nelson
Record during the regular season: 1,335-1,063
Final standings: 75-91
NBA titles won: 0
age of 82 Former American professional basketball player Don Nelson (Donald Arvid Nelson) afterward turned to teach. In Muskegon, Michigan, he was created.
With more regular-season victories than any other coach in NBA history, Nelson is the all-time leader in coaching. He is also a coaching innovator. He was a trailblazer, for instance, when he invented the point forward position in Milwaukee.
He abandoned the conventional pivot-clogging centers in favor of quick lineups that could rack up lots of points. Additionally, Nelson has a distinctive variety of basketball known as “Nellie Ball.”
Don has more than 40 years of coaching expertise. The Milwaukee Bucks, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks, and Dallas Mavericks were some of the NBA clubs he led.
Three times NBA Coach of the Year, two times NBA All-Star Game head coach, and Top 10 Coaches in NBA history are some of his career-highlight honors.
In 2012, Don Nelson was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. His coaching career came to an end following the 2009–2010 season.
8. William “Red” Holzman
Year-to-date stats: 696-604
Record in the playoffs: 58-47
NBA titles won: 2
On August 10, 1920, William “Red” Holzman was born in Manhattan, New York. Like the majority of the coaches on this list, he played professionally before switching to coaching.
Holzman began his coaching career as a Knicks assistant coach. Later, from 1967 through 1982, he served as the Knicks’ head coach. Along with the Knicks, he also played for Leones de Ponce and the Milwaukee/St. Louis Hawks (now the Atlanta Hawks).
The squad won two NBA championships while Holzman served as their head coach.
Along with being voted one of the Top 10 Coaches in NBA history, he has won three BSN championships, two NBA All-Star Game coaching accolades, and the NBA Coach of the Year award.
Red Holzman was one of the select few people who have captured an NBA title both as a player and a coach. He left his position in 1982. He has the second-most career victories of any NBA head coach at the time of his retirement.
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inducted Holzman in 1986. Holzman shared a similar honor by being inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
One of the greatest NBA coaches of all time, Holzman is without a doubt, thanks to the records and accomplishments he racked up over his coaching tenure. Sadly, he passed away on November 13, 1998, at the age of 78.
7. John Kundla
Record for the regular season: 423 302
Final standings: 60-35
NBA titles won: 5
John Kundla is one of the coaches on our list of the finest NBA coaches who did not make the switch from playing professionally to coaching. In Star Junction, Pennsylvania, on July 3, 1916, he was given the name John Albert Kundla.
He played collegiate basketball even though he didn’t play basketball professionally. He first went to Minneapolis Central High School, where he played sports. Later, he participated in basketball for the Minnesota Golden Gophers while a student at the University of Minnesota.
After graduating, Kundla started working as Dave MacMillan’s assistant coach. Later on, he was appointed DeLaSalle High School’s head coach.
After two years, when the United States was engulfed in World War II, John volunteered to defend his country by enlisting in the Navy.
John was appointed as a coach for the College of St. Thomas in 1946 following World War II. The Minneapolis Lakers hired him as their head coach in 1947.
The Minneapolis Lakers’ first head coach was Kundla. He led the Lakers as head coach for 12 seasons, from 1947 to 1959, with his polite demeanor.
After learning that the Lakers franchise would be moving to Los Angeles, John resigned from his post. He continued on to coach at the University of Minnesota after that.
Kundla was a five-time NBA champion (1949, 1950, 1952-1954). He also won four NBA All-Star Game MVP medals between 1951 and 1954, and the NBL championship in 1948.
In 1995, Kundla was made a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. On July 23, 2017, the NBA coach tragically passed away at the age of 101.
6. Lenny Wilkens
Record during the regular season: 1,332-1,155
80-98 is the postseason record.
NBA titles won: 1
Lenny Wilkens, a three-time basketball Hall of Famer, is ranked sixth on our list of the top NBA coaches. One of the three coaches with the most coaching victories in NBA history is 84-year-old Wilkens.
Leonard Randolph Wilkens, his birth name, began playing basketball in college. His career as a professional basketball player began in 1960 with the St. Louis Hawks.
Wilken was the second-best player in the NBA’s history in that statistic at the time of his professional player retirement.
From 1969 through 1972, Lenny served as a player coach with the Seattle SuperSonics. He took over as the Portland Trail Blazers’ full-time coach following his retirement.
He has served as a coach for NBA teams like the New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Atlanta Hawks, and Cleveland Cavaliers.
In addition to being named NBA Champion in 1979, Wilkens’s career highlights include being named NBA Coach of the Year in 1994 and serving as the head coach of the NBA All-Star Game four times, in the years 1979, 1980, 1989, and 1994, respectively.
He is also among the Top 10 Coaches in NBA history, in a similar vein.
Lenny Wilkens is the most productive coach in NBA history. Even though he only had one championship, he managed to get his club 20 times into the playoffs. Additionally, he received the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award during the 2010–2011 campaign.
As a member of the 1992 United States Olympic “Dream Team,” Wilkens was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1989 as a player, in 1998 as a coach, and in 2010 as an assistant coach.
5. Chuck Daly
Result of the regular season: 638-437
75–51 is the postseason record.
NBA titles won: 2
Next on our list is Chuck Daly, a two-time Basketball Hall of Fame coach. Charles Jerome Daly, who was born on July 20, 1930, began his basketball coaching career at the Punxsutawney Area High School in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, in 1955.
In addition to coaching Punxsutawney, he also served as the head coach for Boston College, Penn, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Detroit Pistons, the New Jersey Nets, and the Orlando Magic. Additionally, Daly worked as a coach’s assistant for the Duke and Philadelphia 76ers.
Because Chuck was so dedicated to having the best wardrobe in the NBA that he sent scouts to observe what his competitor coaches were wearing, he was given the moniker “Daddy Rich.”
His dedication to dressing sharply did not, however, distract him from his coaching duties.
The Detroit Pistons were able to capture two back-to-back NBA titles under his leadership in 1989 and 1990.
In addition, he helped the American men’s Olympic basketball team (commonly known as “The Dream Team”) win the gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics.
Both as a head coach and an assistant coach, Daly has a vast record of accomplishments and honors to his name. He is also named among the Top 10 NBA coaches ever.
He is the inspiration for the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award. He was also admitted in 1994 for his coaching career to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
On May 9, 2009, Chuck Daly passed away at the age of 78. The “Dream Team’s” head coach, though, was once more posthumously inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.
4. Pat Riley
1,210-694 is the regular-season record.
171–111 is the postseason record.
NBA titles won: 5
Pat Riley, a 77-year-old who is regarded as one of the finest NBA coaches ever, is fourth on our list. He was a coach and player in the NBA before becoming a professional basketball executive.
In 1967, Riley signed a contract to play in the NBA with the San Diego Rockets. He played in the league for nine seasons before quitting in 1976.
In 1977, he made a comeback to the NBA as a broadcaster for the Lakers. Riley was then employed by Paul Westhead with the Los Angeles Lakers as an assistant coach in 1979. From there, he began his professional coaching career.
Then, after nearly two years as the Lakers’ assistant coach, he took over as the team’s head coach in 1981. Throughout his coaching career, he also held the positions as head coach for the Miami Heat and the New York Knicks.
Riley gained notoriety for his visually appealing fastbreak strategy, which helped the Lakers win four championships. Similarly, his gritty style turned the Knicks into one of the toughest and dirtiest teams in the NBA.
Riley has served as the Miami Heat’s team president since 1995. He is also named among the Top 10 NBA coaches ever. He has won three NBA Coach of the Year awards and nine times as the NBA All-Star Game’s head coach.
Riley retired from his role as the Miami Heat’s head coach in 2008. He is still employed as the team president, though. Additionally, in 2008, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
3. Gregg Popovich
1,277-614 is the regular-season record.
A 170-114 postseason record.
NBA titles won: 5
American professional basketball coach Gregg Popovich, 73, is also an executive for the San Antonio Spurs. He was created in Indiana’s East Chicago.
Popovich has been an active coach for the greatest span of time in the NBA and any significant American sports leagues. Lenny Wilkens and Don Nelson are both surpassed by him in terms of the NBA’s all-time win total.
Popovich spent five years in the US Air Force prior to beginning his coaching career. Then, in 1973, he took his first step in a coaching career when he went back to the Air Force Academy to serve as an assistant coach under head coach Hank Egan.
He spent six years as an assistant coach before taking over as the head coach of the Pomona-Pitzer. He additionally worked as a Kansas, San Antonio Spurs, and Golden State Warriors assistant coach.
Popovich was also in charge of the American national team. Popovich has been the head coach and CEO of the San Antonio Spurs since 1996.
Gregg has five NBA titles to his name. His career highlights and honors also include being named NBA Coach of the Year three times, serving as the head coach of the NBA All-Star Game four times, and winning three SCIAC championships.
Furthermore, he led Team USA to the gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Gregg Popovich is a superb talent manager and a significant figure in the NBA. The fact that 11 of his former assistants now coach NBA clubs is evidence of his influence.
2. Arnold “Red” Auerbach
Scores in the regular season: 938-479
99-69 postseason record
NBA titles won: 9
Our second-best NBA coach of all time is Arnold “Red” Auerbach, better known by his stage as Red Auerbach. He was an American professional basketball coach and executive who was born on September 20, 1917.
The Boston Celtics’ head coach, Auerbach, is perhaps most recognized for his work with them. In 1940, he began his coaching career by teaching basketball at Roosevelt High School and St. Albans School in Washington, D.C.
But after three years, he enlisted for three years in the American Navy. In Norfolk, he oversaw the Navy basketball squad. He was then given the job as head coach for the Washington Capitols by businessman Mike Uline in Washington.
Auerbach led the Washington Capitals from 1946 to 1949. From 1949 to 1950, he then played for the Tri-Cities Blackhawks. From 1950 through 1966, he served as the Boston Celtics’ head coach.
Basketball’s modern era was founded by Auerbach. He changed the rules of basketball to emphasize teamwork and defense. He also introduced the quick break as an effective offensive tool.
Red is remembered as more than just a trailblazer; he also played a key role in the NBA’s integration. He established the first African-American starting five in the NBA in 1964 by selecting Chuck Cooper, the league’s first black player.
In 1966, he also hired Bill Russell, the first African-American head coach in North American sports.
Auerbach has a long list of accolades and accomplishments, but for his whole time in Boston, he worked alone. He is also named among the top ten NBA coaches ever.
In 1969, the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame inducted the Celtics icon. On October 28, 2006, he passed away at the age of 89.
1. Phil Jackson
1,155-485 is the regular-season record.
229-104 is the postseason record.
NBA titles won: 11
The owner of 11 NBA championship titles as a coach, Phil Jackson, is ranked first among the top 12 NBA coaches of all time. Former NBA executive, coach, and professional basketball player Jackson is 76 years old.
Jackson participated in 12 NBA seasons as a professional athlete. He quickly began his coaching career after he retired.
In professional leagues like the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) and Puerto Rico’s National Superior Basketball, he held his first coaching position (BSN).
He worked with clubs including the Albany Patoorns, Piratas de Quebradillas, Gallitos de Isabela, Chicago Bulls, and most famously the Los Angeles Lakers during his coaching tenure. He also worked as an assistant coach for groups including the Chicago Bulls and New Jersey Nets.
Jackson was a great tactician, recruiter, and most importantly, a great mediator as a coach. It makes sense why he is regarded as the best NBA coach in history.
Aside from his 11 NBA titles, Jackson’s career achievements and honors include four times serving as the head coach of the NBA All-Star Game, NBA Coach of the Year, CBA champion, and CBA Coach of the Year.
As part of the NBA’s 50th-anniversary celebration, he was also included in the Top 10 Coaches in NBA History list in 1996. In addition, he has won 13 titles overall in the NBA, both as a player and a coach.
Jackson ended his career as a professional coach following the 2010–2011 campaign. In 2007, Jackson was admitted to the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame.
Conclusion
In any sport, coaches are given less credit than they merit. When he declared, “I get no respect,” Rodney Dangerfield once captured the suffering of the job brilliantly. If you lose, you’re a chump. If you succeed, you will benefit talented athletes.
It requires a lot of methods, motivators, and a knack to manage personalities to be a great coach. Therefore, let’s thank them for their efforts and hard work.
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