Fire The Coach! Ranking the Five Worst Coaches in the NBA

July 26, 2024

Eleazar Gonzales discusses the five worst NBA coaches and why they received the boot.

Being a basketball head coach isn't as easy as most people imagine. You don't just yell at players to do their court work. It would help if you also motivated them to do their best, and you also need to prepare mentally.

We've seen head coaches who have been successful in not only winning multiple championships but also earning the respect of their players. However, there are also a handful of coaches who seemingly can't do anything right due to various reasons. We've seen NBA coaches who received the boot for not being able to win games and yes, a few unfortunate ones haven't returned to the league since getting fired or resigned from their job.

In this article, we take a look at the five worst NBA head coaches of all time.

Sidney Lowe

Sidney Lowe's name is a constant in any all-time list of worst NBA coaches to step into the NBA court.

As head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves from 1992 to 1994 and the Vancouver/Memphis Grizzlies, Lowe's coaching record stood at 79-228 -- a 25.7% winning percentage.

He resigned from the coaching job at Memphis after failing to win a single game in the first eight outings of the 2002-2003 season.

Lowe spent a ton of his career as an assistant with different NBA teams -- presently working as an assistant coach of the Detroit Pistons.

Sidney Lowe played seven years in the NBA after being selected by the Chicago Bulls as the 25th pick of the 1983 NBA Draft.

Sidney Lowe is joining J.B. Bickerstaff’s coaching staff with the Detroit Pistons, per @wojespn

Lowe was on staff with Bickerstaff as one of his assistants with the Cleveland Cavaliers as well. pic.twitter.com/lC0gAohcnh

— Woodward Sports Network (@woodwardsports) July 6, 2024

Bill Hanzlik

Being a head coach is usually a long-term career. However, a few head coaches in the NBA saw shorter careers than many, and Bill Hanzlik is among those unfortunate ones.

Hanzlik, who began his coaching career as an assistant coach with the Charlotte Hornets and the Atlanta Hawks, was the head coach of the Denver Nuggets for the 1997-1998 season.

Unfortunately, Hanzlik's first season with the Nuggets finished with an 11-71 record. Not only did that become the second-worst record for any team, but also the worst record for a rookie coach. The Nuggets' record under Hanzlik was only two games better than the all-time worst record set by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1972-1973 season.

In his ten-year playing career, Bill Hanzlik earned a selection to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team in 1986. His career averages stood at 5.4 points, two rebounds, and two assists while playing for the Seattle SuperSonics and the Nuggets.

Bill Hanzlik pic.twitter.com/XCxrrsqe25

— Surf City Kongs 🌊🏀 RKL $FAME (@SurfCityKongs) February 21, 2023

Brian Winters

Brian Winters was a two-time NBA All-Star during his playing career, and his jersey number 32 was retired by the Milwaukee Bucks. He even made the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 1975. Aside from playing with the Bucks, Winters also spent the first two years of his career with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Winters' coaching career was a different story. Serving as head coach of the Vancouver Grizzlies from 1995 to 1997 and interim coach of the Golden State Warriors in 2001, Winters finished with a 36-148 slate -- a 19.6% winning percentage.

Since then, Brian Winters bounced from one assistant coaching gig to another and even landed a head coaching gig with the Indiana Fever in the WNBA where he fared better -- finishing with a 78-58 win-loss record. After his final assistant coaching gig in 2013 with the Charlotte Bobcats, Winters is now a talent scout for the Indiana Pacers. He also convinced the Pacers to draft Myles Turner in 2015.

This is the "Retired Jerseys" series of the Milwaukee Bucks. 🦌 We continue with...

No. 3⃣2⃣: Brian Winters🎽

Winters was one of the four players traded to Milwaukee for Kareem, and his scoring and playmaking would prove indispensable for 8 solid years with the Bucks. pic.twitter.com/VSOOqsPPm3

— The Cream City Collectors (@BucksTopshot) January 10, 2023

Dick Harter

Dick Harter spent most of his coaching career as an assistant coach, and no, he didn't play a single NBA game. 

In 1988, Harter became the first head coach of the Charlotte Hornets. Mid through the 1989-1990 season, the Hornets fired Harter after an 8-32 slate. Overall, Harter had a 28-94 win-loss slate for his head coaching career.

Dick Harter spent time as an assistant with other NBA teams such as the Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, New York Knicks, Portland Trai Blazers, Boston Celtics, and the Philadelphia 76ers. He last appeared as an assistant of the Indiana Pacers from 2007 to 2010. Before working in the NBA, Harter also coached Penn, Germantown Academy, Rider, Oregon, and Penn State.

@benmaller @Eddieonfox who is dick harter? pic.twitter.com/dDvEbUc02A

— Mayor Parker The Snow Dog (@officialsnowdog) May 28, 2024

Jim Todd

Jim Todd was another one of those who spent most of their career as an assistant coach for different NBA teams. And like Dick Harter, Todd didn't play a game in the NBA. He spent almost a decade as the head coach of the Salem State College.

In 2000, he replaced then-Los Angeles Clippers Head Coach Chris Ford and served as interim head coach. That was Todd's lone coaching gig in the NBA, and he could only muster a 4-38 slate -- a forgettable 10.8 winning percentage.

During his one-and-done head coaching gig, Todd focused on developing power forwards and centers as good post players. He would hold a "Big Men" basketball camp which aims to develop good post players. Sadly, he failed to develop Michael Olowokandi into a great center after the Clippers drafted him first in the 1998 NBA Draft. Todd also coached Lamar Odom who later won two championships with the Los Angeles Lakers.

He last served as an assistant coach for the New York Knicks from 2012 to 2014. His assistant coaching gigs also include stops with the  Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors, Atlanta Hawks, and the Sacramento Kings. Sadly, some assistant coaches didn't last long even as an assistant coach and Todd was among those as his stints with these teams didn't go beyond three years. 

“Obviamente quería probar un punto ... yo solo esperaba que parara en 50.” — Jim Todd, entrenador interino de los Clippers #LakeShow2000 pic.twitter.com/2dKCWVxX3x

— Los Lakers (@LosLakers) May 19, 2020