# List of NBA championship head coaches

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a major professional basketball league in North America. It was founded in 1946 as the Basketball Association of America (BAA). The league adopted its current name at the start of the 1949–50 season when it merged with the National Basketball League (NBL). The league consists of 30teams, of which 29 are located in the United States and one in Canada. In the NBA, a head coach is the highest ranking coach of a coaching staff. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than the assistant coaches.
Former Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls head coach Phil Jackson has won eleven NBA championships, the most in NBA history. He won six titles with the Chicago Bulls and five titles with the Lakers, and is one of three coaches who have won multiple championships with more than one team (Pat Riley and Alex Hannum are the others). Red Auerbach won nine championships with the Boston Celtics and won eight consecutive titles from 1959 to 1966. John Kundla, Pat Riley, and current San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich have each won five championships. Kundla won all of his titles with the Lakers, and Popovich has won all of his titles with the Spurs, while Riley won four titles with the Lakers and one with the Miami Heat. Current Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has won four championships, while current Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra has won two titles. Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers, Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle, Los Angeles Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue, Philadelphia 76ers head coach Nick Nurse, Phoenix Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer, Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone, and Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla are the only other active coaches who have won a championship. Rivers won while with the Boston Celtics in 2008, Carlisle won while with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011, Lue with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, Nurse with the Toronto Raptors in 2019, Budenholzer with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021, Malone with the Denver Nuggets in 2023, and Mazzulla with the Boston Celtics in 2024.

## Other achievements

* Of the championship head coaches, 15 (Auerbach, Larry Brown, Carlisle, Bill Fitch, Tom Heinsohn, Red Holzman, Jackson, Kerr, Dick Motta, Nurse, Popovich, Riley, Rivers, Bill Sharman, and Lenny Wilkens) have won the Coach of the Year Award.
* 14 (Auerbach, Brown, Chuck Daly, Fitch, Alex Hannum, Heinsohn, Holzman, Jackson, Kundla, Jack Ramsay, Riley, Sharman, Rudy Tomjanovich and Wilkens) have been elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach.
* 14 (Jones, Russell, Heinsohn, Sharman, Jackson, Cunningham, Riley, Holzman, Costello, Senesky, Jeannette, Carlisle, Kerr, Lue) also won championships as players, with both Buddy Jeannette and Bill Russell having won their only manager titles as player-coach.
* Riley, Lue and Paul Westhead are the only three coaches who have led teams to titles having only arrived in mid-season.

## Key

| Yrs | Number of years coached |
| GC | Games coached |
| W | Wins |
| L | Losses |
| Win% | Winning percentage |
| ^ | Denotes coach who is currently coaching an NBA team |
| * | Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach |
| *^ | Active NBA coach who has been elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame |

## List

Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2023–24 season.
| Number won | Coach | Team(s) won with (years) | Coaching career | Yrs | GC | W | L | Win% | GC | W | L | Win% |
| Number won | Coach | Team(s) won with (years) | Coaching career | Yrs | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Ref. |
| 11 | Phil Jackson* | Chicago Bulls (1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998) Los Angeles Lakers (2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010) | 1989–1998, 1999–2004, 2005–2011 | 20 | 1,640 | 1,155 | 485 | .704 | 333 | 229 | 104 | .688 |
| 9 | Red Auerbach* | Boston Celtics (1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966) | 1946–1966 | 20 | 1,417 | 938 | 479 | .662 | 168 | 99 | 69 | .589 |
| 5 | John Kundla* | Minneapolis Lakers (1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954) | 1948–1958, 1958–1959 | 11 | 725 | 423 | 302 | .583 | 95 | 60 | 35 | .632 |
| 5 | Pat Riley* | Los Angeles Lakers (1982, 1985, 1987, 1988) Miami Heat (2006) | 1981–1990, 1991–2003, 2005–2008 | 24 | 1,904 | 1,210 | 694 | .636 | 282 | 171 | 111 | .606 |
| 5 | Gregg Popovich*^ | San Antonio Spurs (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2014) | 1996–present | 28 | 2,209 | 1,388 | 821 | .628 | 284 | 170 | 114 | .599 |
| 4 | Steve Kerr^ | Golden State Warriors (2015, 2017, 2018, 2022) | 2014–present | 10 | 793 | 519 | 274 | .654 | 140 | 99 | 41 | .707 |
| 2 | Chuck Daly* | Detroit Pistons (1989, 1990) | 1981–1982, 1983–1994, 1997–1999 | 14 | 1,075 | 638 | 437 | .593 | 126 | 75 | 51 | .595 |
| 2 | Alex Hannum* | St. Louis Hawks (1958) Philadelphia 76ers (1967) | 1956–1958, 1960–1968, 1969–1971 | 12 | 883 | 471 | 412 | .533 | 81 | 47 | 34 | .580 |
| 2 | Tom Heinsohn* | Boston Celtics (1974, 1976) | 1969–1978 | 9 | 690 | 427 | 263 | .619 | 80 | 47 | 33 | .588 |
| 2 | Red Holzman* | New York Knicks (1970, 1973) | 1954–1957, 1967–1977, 1978–1982 | 18 | 1,300 | 696 | 604 | .535 | 106 | 58 | 48 | .547 |
| 2 | K. C. Jones | Boston Celtics (1984, 1986) | 1973–1976, 1983–1988, 1990–1992 | 10 | 774 | 522 | 252 | .674 | 138 | 81 | 57 | .587 |
| 2 | Bill Russell* | Boston Celtics (1968, 1969) | 1966–1969, 1973–1977, 1987–1988 | 8 | 631 | 341 | 290 | .540 | 61 | 34 | 27 | .557 |
| 2 | Rudy Tomjanovich* | Houston Rockets (1994, 1995) | 1992–2003, 2004–2005 | 13 | 943 | 527 | 416 | .559 | 90 | 51 | 39 | .567 |
| 2 | Erik Spoelstra^ | Miami Heat (2012, 2013) | 2008–present | 16 | 1,277 | 750 | 527 | .587 | 189 | 110 | 79 | .582 |
| 1 | Al Attles* | Golden State Warriors (1975) | 1969–1983 | 14 | 1,075 | 557 | 518 | .518 | 61 | 31 | 30 | .508 |
| 1 | Larry Brown* | Detroit Pistons (2004) | 1976–1979, 1981–1983, 1988–2006, 2008–2010 | 27 | 2,002 | 1,098 | 904 | .548 | 193 | 100 | 93 | .518 |
| 1 | Mike Budenholzer^ | Milwaukee Bucks (2021) | 2013–2023, 2024–present | 10 | 801 | 484 | 317 | .604 | 104 | 56 | 48 | .538 |
| 1 | Rick Carlisle^ | Dallas Mavericks (2011) | 2001–2007, 2008–present | 22 | 1,771 | 943 | 828 | .532 | 150 | 71 | 79 | .473 |
| 1 | Al Cervi | Syracuse Nationals (1955) | 1949–1956, 1958–1959 | 9 | 567 | 326 | 241 | .575 | 60 | 34 | 26 | .567 |
| 1 | Larry Costello | Milwaukee Bucks (1971) | 1968–1976, 1978–1979 | 10 | 730 | 430 | 300 | .589 | 60 | 37 | 23 | .617 |
| 1 | Billy Cunningham | Philadelphia 76ers (1983) | 1977–1985 | 8 | 650 | 454 | 196 | .698 | 105 | 66 | 39 | .629 |
| 1 | Bill Fitch* | Boston Celtics (1981) | 1970–1988, 1989–1992, 1994–1998 | 25 | 2,050 | 944 | 1,106 | .460 | 109 | 55 | 54 | .505 |
| 1 | Edward Gottlieb | Philadelphia Warriors (1947) | 1946–1955 | 9 | 581 | 263 | 318 | .453 | 32 | 15 | 17 | .469 |
| 1 | Les Harrison | Rochester Royals (1951) | 1948–1955 | 7 | 476 | 295 | 181 | .620 | 38 | 19 | 19 | .500 |
| 1 | Buddy Jeannette | Baltimore Bullets (1948) | 1947–1952, 1964–1966, 1966–1968 | 7 | 354 | 151 | 203 | .427 | 24 | 14 | 10 | .583 |
| 1 | Tyronn Lue^ | Cleveland Cavaliers (2016) | 2016–2018, 2020–present | 8 | 529 | 312 | 217 | .590 | 91 | 54 | 37 | .593 |
| 1 | Michael Malone^ | Denver Nuggets (2023) | 2013–present | 11 | 825 | 463 | 362 | .561 | 80 | 44 | 36 | .550 |
| 1 | Joe Mazzulla^ | Boston Celtics (2024) | 2022–present | 2 | 164 | 121 | 43 | .738 | 39 | 27 | 12 | .692 |
| 1 | Dick Motta | Washington Bullets (1978) | 1968–1980, 1980–1987, 1990–1991, 1994–1997 | 25 | 1,952 | 935 | 1,017 | .479 | 126 | 56 | 70 | .444 |
| 1 | Nick Nurse^ | Toronto Raptors (2019) | 2018–present | 6 | 472 | 274 | 198 | .581 | 47 | 27 | 20 | .574 |
| 1 | Jack Ramsay* | Portland Trail Blazers (1977) | 1969–1972, 1973–1989 | 21 | 1,647 | 864 | 783 | .525 | 102 | 44 | 58 | .431 |
| 1 | Doc Rivers^ | Boston Celtics (2008) | 1999–2003, 2004–2023, 2024–present | 25 | 1,896 | 1,114 | 782 | .588 | 221 | 113 | 108 | .511 |
| 1 | George Senesky | Philadelphia Warriors (1956) | 1955–1958 | 3 | 216 | 119 | 97 | .551 | 20 | 10 | 10 | .500 |
| 1 | Bill Sharman* | Los Angeles Lakers (1972) | 1966–1968, 1971–1977 | 7 | 573 | 333 | 240 | .581 | 62 | 35 | 27 | .565 |
| 1 | Frank Vogel | Los Angeles Lakers (2020) | 2010–2018, 2019–2022, 2023–2024 | 12 | 902 | 480 | 422 | .532 | 92 | 49 | 43 | .533 |
| 1 | Paul Westhead | Los Angeles Lakers (1980) | 1979–1981, 1982–1983, 1990–1992 | 6 | 407 | 183 | 224 | .450 | 19 | 13 | 6 | .684 |
| 1 | Lenny Wilkens* | Seattle SuperSonics (1979) | 1969–1972, 1974–1976, 1977–1985, 1986–2003, 2004–2005 | 32 | 2,487 | 1,332 | 1,155 | .536 | 178 | 80 | 98 | .449 |