Ranking the Top-10 NBA Head Coaches of All Time

July 4, 2024

Eleazar Gonzales ranks his top-10 NBA coaches of all time. He looks at coaches throughout the history of the NBA and distinguishes what makes these 10 stand out.

Being a head coach in any basketball league like the NBA is a thankless job. If your team wins, people will say you're doing a great job. And if your team isn't meeting expectations, people will ensure you'll hear it.

We've seen several NBA coaches transform struggling teams into championship winners. We've also witnessed coaches who masterfully managed the minutes (and egos) of superstars while winning multiple championships along the way.

In this article, we'll rank the top-10 NBA head coaches of all time along with their accolades.

Red Auerbach

Do you believe the great Red Auerbach only won the Coach of the Year plum once in his 20-season career at the helm of the Boston Celtics?

He steered the Celtics to nine championships -- including eight straight from 1958 to 1966. He also served as head coach in the All-Star Game 11 times. Auerbach's coaching brilliance earned him the distinction of having the Coach of the Year Award named after him.

The relationship between Red Auerbach and Bill Russell remains the BEST relationship between a coach and a player imo #DifferentHere

📽️ : @NBCSports https://t.co/o1Y4S0jO2k pic.twitter.com/PLxnhC14fJ

— Yvan Montgury, The Gravedigger (@YvanMontgury) May 8, 2024

Phil Jackson

The Zen Master was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007. Two years later, he added one of his final two NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers. That's how great Phil Jackson is.

To this day, he remains the last NBA head coach to win a three-peat (2000 to 2002). And speaking of three-peats, he has also done it twice with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.

An 11-time NBA champion as a head coach, Phil Jackson holds the record for most playoff wins (229). He owns the highest winning percentage in the regular season and the second-highest winning percentage in the postseason. To top it all, Jackson coached in the NBA Finals 13 times in 20 seasons.

Phil Jackson won 11 NBA Championships in 20 seasons.

!!!

People forget how great he was.

He had a unique ability to help superstars put their egos aside and be bought into a system. pic.twitter.com/7EkAxupyZ3

— Jacob | Dad and Company (@MrJacobEspi) August 15, 2021

Gregg Popovich

Gregg Popovich became the head coach of the San Antonio Spurs in the 1996-1997 season. Two seasons later, he was already an NBA champion as a head coach. And 26 seasons later, the now 75-year-old coach is still at the top of things in San Antonio.

Popovich has five NBA championships under his belt along with three Coach of the Year Awards. He owns the most number of victories in the regular season and playoffs combined at 1,496 wins and counting. He also coached great players such as David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Kawhi Leonard, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker. And most of the head coaches in today's NBA used to be a part of Popovich's coaching staff. That alone says a lot about the impact of one Gregg Popovich.

Se cumplen 8 años de este momentazo de Gregg Popovich después de ganar el anillo de 2014pic.twitter.com/OShDVodcxT

— Pasion Basket (@PasionBasketNBA) June 15, 2022

Pat Riley

Who could ever forget Pat Riley guaranteeing the Los Angeles Lakers would repeat as champions? That just showed the confidence Riley had in his team.

Riley, now serving as team president of the Miami Heat since 1995, has won five NBA championships as head coach -- four with the Lakers and one with the Heat in 2006.

He won the Coach of the Year Award thrice in his career and remains the only coach in league history to win the award with three different franchises -- the other team being the New York Knicks.

“Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better.”

- Pat Riley pic.twitter.com/p0ZnyvEYzA

— Coach the Coaches (@WinningCoaches) June 14, 2023

Don Nelson

Don Nelson is the winningest regular-season head coach in NBA history with 1,335 regular-season wins spread across 31 seasons. His NBA journey included coaching stints with the Knicks, Milwaukee Bucks, Dallas Mavericks, and the Golden State Warriors -- winning at least 300 games with three of the four teams.

Nelson had 13 seasons with 50+ wins -- including two with 60 wins. He is a three-time Coach of the Year alongside Popovich and Riley.

November 26, 1986: Don Nelson becomes the fastest NBA coach to 500 wins.

And there’s a decent chance he did so while wearing either a fish tie, a neck brace or an arm sling. pic.twitter.com/yXKZGPmXJV

— NBA Cobwebs (@NBACobwebs) November 27, 2021

Jerry Sloan

We can't discuss a list of the top NBA coaches of all time without including the late Jerry Sloan in it. Sloan, who spent 23 seasons coaching the Utah Jazz, was the first NBA head coach to garner 1,000 wins with one franchise.

He guided the Jazz to 15 consecutive playoff appearances -- including a back-to-back trip to the NBA Finals. The Jazz recorded three 60+ win seasons on top of 13 50+ win seasons.

Jerry Sloan was a visionary who spearheaded one of the most historically dominant teams of his era. With 1221 wins under his belt, Jerry is the 4th winningest head coach in NBA history. If there’s a team in heaven, they just got a hell of a head coach.

Rest In peace, Jerry. ✊ pic.twitter.com/PhcDcP1am7

— The Hoopologists Podcast (@Hoopologists) May 22, 2020

Chuck Daly

Chuck Daly was the brain behind the infamous Jordan Rules of the Detroit Pistons. And if you managed to devise a plan to somewhat slow down arguably the greatest player of all time, you deserve your name to be included in this list.

Daly is hailed as the greatest coach in Pistons history. He steered the franchise to five straight seasons with 50 wins or more. He holds a 59.5% winning percentage in the playoffs and guided Detroit to back-to-back NBA championships from 1989 to 1990.

Happy Birthday to the late Chuck Daly! #Pistons pic.twitter.com/ks3QqNE2LP

— Woodward Sports Network (@woodwardsports) July 20, 2022

Red Holzman

Red Holzman is responsible for the Knicks' two NBA championships in 1970 and 1973 and remains the only coach to win the Coach of the Year plum with the Knicks.

His winning percentage in the regular season stands at 53.6% and in a span of 14 seasons, he led New York to a 613-483 slate -- making him the most successful coach in franchise history.

"The sign of a great player is not how much he scores, but how much he lifts his teammates performance."
― William "Red" Holzman (died this day, November 13, 1998) pic.twitter.com/5bHKAXqwWq

— MacCocktail (Mastodon: @[email protected]) (@MacCocktail) November 13, 2020

K.C. Jones

Even though he was a head coach in just 10 seasons, K.C. Jones' 10-season coaching career has its merits to earn him a spot in this list.

He led the Celtics to four NBA Finals appearances -- winning two NBA championships. His winning percentage in the regular season stands at fourth all time (67.4%). The Celtics had a 75.1% winning percentage in five seasons under Jones. He even steered the Washington Bullets (now the Wizards) to an NBA Finals trip in 1975. He finished his career having posted a 50% (or better) winning percentage in every season he coached.

1987, K.C. Jones came to congratulate Pat Riley during his interview after winning the championship against the Celtics.

Respect on KC Jones 💯 pic.twitter.com/Wi8c4jwN1W

— Yvan Montgury, The Gravedigger (@YvanMontgury) May 31, 2024

Steve Kerr

Steve Kerr is on this list for different reasons. He led the Golden State Warriors to three NBA championships in his first four seasons as head coach. He led the Warriors to five straight NBA Finals appearances, which stands as the second-longest streak in league history. He also coached the Warriors to a 73-win season in the 2015-2016 season.

All in all, Kerr has four NBA championships as a coach under his belt.

Chug, chug, chug! Steve Kerr out there living his best life #DubNation #GoldBlooded https://t.co/AGjc04SWat pic.twitter.com/B1YVp9cFMu

— ABC7 News (@abc7newsbayarea) June 20, 2022