Top 10 Best NBA Coaches of All Time-Sportsglob.com

A list of the ten best NBA coaches of all time

1. Red Auerbach

Red Auerbach was the first NBA coach to win nine championships. Winning the first eight championships were with the Boston Celtics, and his ninth championship was with the Washington Bullets. Red Auerbach was a great coach and the architect of the Boston Celtics dynasty in the 1960s. He’s considered one of the most influential basketball coaches of all time. Coach Auerbach led the Celtics to nine championships during his tenure with the team.

2. Phil Jackson

Phil Jackson is among one of the best coaches in NBA history. He has won 11 titles, including six with Michael Jordan and two with Kobe Bryant. They also have the most playoff appearances together with 156. One of Jackson’s strategies was to rely on his bench players at crucial moments during the game rather than overworking his starters. The bench became a feared group, winning six championships in seven years. It’s not just Jackson who believes in a deep bench, though. Gregg Popovich has won five titles over the last 20 years and has the most playoff appearances of any coach. He is also the coaches association president and has famously said, “If you have a deep team.

3. Bill Russell

Bill Russell is among one of the greatest coaches in NBA history. He led his team to 11 championships in 13 seasons and won two Coach of the Year awards. Bill Russell was the coach who led the Boston Celtics to 11 NBA Championships in 13 years. Bill is often considered one of the greatest coaches and was famous for his calm demeanor and innovative coaching style. He focused on defense, which was unheard of back then, but he wanted to win every game by getting the ball across the centerline.

4. Gregg Popovich

Gregg Popovich is the longest-tenured coach in the NBA. He has coached the San Antonio Spurs for 22 years and has won five championships during his tenure. His team currently leads the Western Conference with 54-14 this season, making them favorites to win the NBA championship. Gregg Popovich is the current coach of the San Antonio Spurs and has been at the helm for 20 years, during which he has coached the team to four championships and five trips to the NBA finals. Popovich has a .676 regular-season winning percentage as head coach and a .717 postseason winning percentage.

5. Pat Riley

Pat Riley is considered one of the best coaches in the history of the NBA and coached five championship teams, including two undefeated seasons. His most important contributions were big men, clutch players in critical moments, and team defense. Pat Riley is the president of the Miami Heat and has won six NBA championships as a coach with the Los Angeles Lakers and three more with the Heat. His coaching career began with the New York Knicks in 1973, and Riley is most known for his ability to turn teams into championship contenders, particularly in the 1980s when he led his Lakers team to four NBA titles.

6. Pat Summit

Pat Summit was the head coach of the University of Tennessee women’s basketball team for forty years. She led her team to eight national championships, and she was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000. Pat Summitt is a retired American basketball coach who, in a career that spanned more than 38 years, achieved a record of 896-202 (.813). She coached the University of Tennessee’s Lady Vols for 36 seasons, from 1974 to 2012. During her tenure at Tennessee, she won eight NCAA Women’s Division I Basketball Championships and became the all-time winningest coach in both college and women’s basketball history.
Summitt is the only person inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player and coach.

7. John CalipariJohn Calipari, The current head coach for the University of Kentucky John Calipari, has led the Wildcats to four Final Four appearances in his six-year tenure. He has won three of those appearances. His teams have also made it to five Sweet 16s and two Elite Eight finishes. John Calipari has been a college basketball coach coaching since the 1980s. In his time on the job, he has led teams to eight Final Four appearances and two National Championships. He is an excellent motivator of players and creates a family atmosphere in the locker room.

8. Bobby Knight

Bobby Knight was one of the best college coaches in history. He won 3 NCAA championships with the Indiana Hoosiers in 1976, 1981, and 1987. Bobby Knight was the head coach of three college basketball teams and coached at Army, Indiana University, and Texas Tech. Between 1972 and 2008, he led his teams to three NCAA championships. During his career, he achieved 902 victories in 1,200 games played.

9. Dean SmithDean Smith was among one of the head coaches of the University of North Carolina Tar Heels, and at one point, he had an 879-178 win-loss record. Not only was he successful on the collegiate level, but he also led two professional teams to NBA championships – the Boston Celtics in 1981 and the Chicago Bulls in 1993. Dean Smith coached the University of North Carolina Tar Heels for 36 years, winning two national championships. He is famous for establishing the “Tar Heel way,” which includes propriety in academics, good sportsmanship in competition, and positive relationships in all endeavors.

10. Tex Winter

Tex Winter is a retired American professional basketball coach who was the assistant coach for the Chicago Bulls from 1987 to 2003. He also served as an assistant coach for the Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers, and Dallas Mavericks.
Tex Winter played college basketball at the University of Kansas in the 1940s when Phog Allen also coached him. He then became a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame member in 2011. Tex Winter has coached basketball for more than 50 years and is one of only four people coached in the NCAA, NBA, and WNBA. Winter is most well-known for his association with Phil Jackson and their success as a coaching tandem. He was instrumental in developing the triangle offense, leading to their 11 championship titles.