List of NBA championship head coaches

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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 when it merged with the National Basketball League (NBL). The league consists of 30 teams, 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 to 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. Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle, Los Angeles Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue, Philadelphia 76ers head coach Nick Nurse, Phoenix Suns head coach Frank Vogel, and Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone are the only other active coaches who have won a championship. Carlisle won while with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011, Lue with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, Nurse with the Toronto Raptors in 2019, Vogel with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020, and Malone with the Denver Nuggets in 2023.

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.

Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the Number won Coach Team(s) won with (years) Coaching career Yrs GC W L Win% GC W L Win% Ref. Regular season Playoffs 11 * Chicago Bulls (1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998)Los Angeles Lakers (2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010) –, –, – 20 1,640 1,155 485 .704 333 229 104 .688 9 * Boston Celtics (1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966) – 20 1,417 938 479 .662 168 99 69 .589 5 * Minneapolis Lakers (1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954) –, 11 725 423 302 .583 95 60 35 .632 5 * Los Angeles Lakers (1982, 1985, 1987, 1988)Miami Heat (2006) –, –, – 24 1,904 1,210 694 .636 282 171 111 .606 5 ^ San Antonio Spurs (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2014) –present 27 2,127 1,366 761 .642 284 170 114 .599 4 ^ Golden State Warriors (2015, 2017, 2018, 2022) –present 9 711 473 238 .665 140 99 41 .707 2 * Detroit Pistons (1989, 1990) , –, – 14 1,075 638 437 .593 126 75 51 .595 2 * St. Louis Hawks (1958)Philadelphia 76ers (1967) –, –, – 12 883 471 412 .533 81 47 34 .580 2 * Boston Celtics (1974, 1976) – 9 690 427 263 .619 80 47 33 .588 2 * New York Knicks (1970, 1973) –, –, – 18 1,300 696 604 .535 106 58 48 .547 2 Boston Celtics (1984, 1986) –, –, – 10 774 522 252 .674 138 81 57 .587 2 * Boston Celtics (1968, 1969) –, –, 8 631 341 290 .540 61 34 27 .557 2* Houston Rockets (1994, 1995) –, 13 943 527 416 .559 90 51 39 .567 2 ^ Miami Heat (2012, 2013) –present 15 1,195 704 491 .589 184 109 75 .592 1* Golden State Warriors (1975) – 14 1,075 557 518 .518 61 31 30 .508 1 * Detroit Pistons (2004) –, –, –, – 27 2,002 1,098 904 .548 193 100 93 .518 1 Milwaukee Bucks (2021) – 10 801 484 317 .604 104 56 48 .538 1 ^ Dallas Mavericks (2011) –, –present 21 1,689 896 793 .530 133 63 70 .474 1 Syracuse Nationals (1955) –, 9 567 326 241 .575 60 34 26 .567 1 Milwaukee Bucks (1971) –, 10 730 430 300 .589 60 37 23 .617 1 Philadelphia 76ers (1983) – 8 650 454 196 .698 105 66 39 .629 1 * Boston Celtics (1981) –, –, – 25 2,050 944 1,106 .460 109 55 54 .505 1 Philadelphia Warriors (1947) – 9 581 263 318 .453 32 15 17 .469 1 Rochester Royals (1951) – 7 476 295 181 .620 38 19 19 .500 1 Baltimore Bullets (1948) –, –, – 7 354 151 203 .427 24 14 10 .583 1 ^ Cleveland Cavaliers (2016) –, –present 7 447 261 186 .584 85 52 33 .612 1 ^ Denver Nuggets (2023) –present 10 743 406 337 .546 68 37 31 .544 1 Washington Bullets (1978) –, –, –, – 25 1,952 935 1,017 .479 126 56 70 .444 1 ^ Toronto Raptors (2019) –present 5 390 227 163 .582 41 25 16 .610 1 * Portland Trail Blazers (1977) –, – 21 1,647 864 783 .525 102 44 58 .431 1^ Boston Celtics (2008) –, –present 24 1,860 1,097 763 .590 215 111 104 .516 1 Philadelphia Warriors (1956) – 3 216 119 97 .551 20 10 10 .500 1 * Los Angeles Lakers (1972) –, – 7 573 333 240 .581 62 35 27 .565 1 ^ Los Angeles Lakers (2020) –, –, –present 11 820 431 389 .526 88 49 39 .557 1 Los Angeles Lakers (1980) –, , – 6 407 183 224 .450 19 13 6 .684 1 * Seattle SuperSonics (1979) –, –, –, –, – 32 2,487 1,332 1,155 .536 178 80 98 .449