# List of Cleveland Cavaliers head coaches

The Cleveland Cavaliers are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The Cavaliers play in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team joined the NBA in 1970 as an expansion team and won their first Eastern Conference championship in 2007. The Cavaliers have played their home games at Rocket Arena, formerly known as Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Quicken Loans Arena, and Gund Arena, since 1994. The Cavaliers are owned by Dan Gilbert, with Koby Altman as their general manager. American R&B-pop singer Usher Raymond is a minority owner.
There have been 24 head coaches for the Cavaliers franchise. The current head coach is Kenny Atkinson. The franchise's first head coach was Bill Fitch, who coached for nine seasons. Fitch is the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular-season games coached (738); Lenny Wilkens is the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular-season game wins (316); Mike Brown is the franchise's all-time leader for the most playoff games coached (71) and the most playoff game wins (42). David Blatt has the highest regular-season winning percentage (.675) and the highest playoff winning percentage (.700). Tyronn Lue is the only coach to lead the Cavaliers to an NBA championship, in 2016. Chuck Daly, Wilkens and Fitch have been elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame as head coaches, partly due to their work with the Cavaliers. Fitch, Daly and Wilkens were also named as 3 of the top 10 coaches in NBA history. Fitch and Brown are the only Cavaliers coaches to have won the NBA Coach of the Year Award.

## Key

| GC | Games coached |
| W | Wins |
| L | Losses |
| Win% | Winning percentage |
| # | Number of coaches |
| * | Spent entire NBA head coaching career with the Cavaliers |
| † | Elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach |

## Coaches

Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2023–24 season.
| # | Name | Term | GC | W | L | Win% | GC | W | L | Win% | Achievements |
| # | Name | Term | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | | Achievements | Reference |
| 1 | Bill Fitch† | 1970–1979 | 738 | 304 | 434 | .412 | 18 | 7 | 11 | .389 | 1975–76 NBA Coach of the Year One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history |
| 2 | Stan Albeck | 1979–1980 | 82 | 37 | 45 | .451 | — | — | — | — | |
| 3 | Bill Musselman | 1980–1981 | 71 | 25 | 46 | .352 | — | — | — | — | |
| 4 | Don Delaney* | 1981 | 26 | 7 | 19 | .269 | — | — | — | — | |
| 5 | Bob Kloppenburg | 1981 | 3 | 0 | 3 | .000 | — | — | — | — | |
| 6 | Chuck Daly† | 1981–1982 | 41 | 9 | 32 | .220 | — | — | — | — | One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history |
| — | Bill Musselman | 1982 | 23 | 2 | 21 | .087 | — | — | — | — | |
| 7 | Tom Nissalke | 1982–1984 | 164 | 51 | 113 | .311 | — | — | — | — | |
| 8 | George Karl† | 1984–1986 | 149 | 61 | 88 | .409 | 4 | 1 | 3 | .250 | |
| 9 | Gene Littles | 1986 | 15 | 4 | 11 | .267 | — | — | — | — | |
| 10 | Lenny Wilkens† | 1986–1993 | 574 | 316 | 258 | .551 | 41 | 18 | 23 | .439 | One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history |
| 11 | Mike Fratello | 1993–1999 | 460 | 248 | 212 | .539 | 14 | 2 | 12 | .143 | |
| 12 | Randy Wittman | 1999–2001 | 164 | 62 | 102 | .378 | — | — | — | — | |
| 13 | John Lucas II | 2001–2003 | 124 | 37 | 87 | .298 | — | — | — | — | |
| 14 | Keith Smart | 2003 | 40 | 9 | 31 | .225 | — | — | — | — | |
| 15 | Paul Silas | 2003–2005 | 146 | 69 | 77 | .473 | — | — | — | — | |
| 16 | Brendan Malone | 2005 | 18 | 8 | 10 | .444 | — | — | — | — | |
| 17 | Mike Brown | 2005–2010 | 410 | 272 | 138 | .663 | 71 | 42 | 29 | .592 | Eastern Conference championship (2007) 2008–09 NBA Coach of the Year |
| 18 | Byron Scott | 2010–2013 | 230 | 64 | 166 | .278 | — | — | — | — | |
| — | Mike Brown | 2013–2014 | 82 | 33 | 49 | .402 | — | — | — | — | |
| 19 | David Blatt* | 2014–2016 | 113 | 83 | 40 | .675 | 20 | 14 | 6 | .700 | Eastern Conference championship (2015) |
| 20 | Tyronn Lue | 2016–2018 | 211 | 128 | 83 | .607 | 61 | 41 | 20 | .672 | NBA championship (2016) Three Eastern Conference championships (2016–2018) 2016 ESPY Award for Best Coach/Manager |
| 21 | Larry Drew | 2018–2019 | 76 | 19 | 57 | .250 | — | — | — | — | |
| 22 | John Beilein* | 2019–2020 | 54 | 14 | 40 | .259 | — | — | — | — | |
| 23 | J. B. Bickerstaff | 2020–2024 | 329 | 170 | 159 | .517 | 17 | 6 | 11 | .353 | |
| 24 | Kenny Atkinson | 2024–present | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | |
* After coaching the Cavaliers for 41 games (with a 9–32 record), Chuck Daly was dismissed during the 1981–82 season.
* Lenny Wilkens was the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers from 1986 to 1993.
* Two-time head coach Mike Brown coached the Cavaliers from 2005 to 2010, and again during the 2013–14 season. During his first stint, he led the Cavs to their first NBA Finals appearance in 2007.
* Byron Scott was the head coach of the Cavaliers from 2010 to 2013. During the 2010–2011 season, the Cavs lost 26 games in a row - tied for the longest losing streak in the four major professional sports.
* David Blatt was the Cavaliers head coach from 2014–2016.
* Tyronn Lue was the Cavaliers head coach from 2016–2018, leading the team to the 2016 NBA Championship
* John Beilein was the Cavaliers head coach for part of the 2019–20 season.
* J. B. Bickerstaff was the Cavaliers head coach from 2020–2024