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 1 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 Los Angeles 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, including eight consecutive titles from to . John Kundla, Pat Riley and Gregg Popovich have each won five championships. John Kundla won all of his titles with the Los Angeles Lakers, and Gregg Popovich won all of his titles with the San Antonio Spurs, while Pat Riley won four titles with the Los Angeles 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, Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault, and New York Knicks head coach Mike Brown 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, Mazzulla with the Boston Celtics in 2024, Daigneault with the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2025, and Brown with the New York Knicks in 2026.

Other achievements Of the championship head coaches, 18 (Red Auerbach, Larry Brown, Mike Brown, Rick Carlisle, Mark Daigneault, Bill Fitch, Tom Heinsohn, Red Holzman, Phil Jackson, Steve Kerr, Joe Mazzulla, Dick Motta, Nick Nurse, Gregg Popovich, Pat Riley, Doc Rivers, Bill Sharman, and Lenny Wilkens) have won the Coach of the Year Award. 16 (Red Auerbach, Larry Brown, Chuck Daly, Bill Fitch, Alex Hannum, Tom Heinsohn, Red Holzman, Phil Jackson, John Kundla, Gregg Popovich, Jack Ramsay, Pat Riley, Doc Rivers, Bill Sharman, Rudy Tomjanovich, and Lenny Wilkens) have been elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach. 14 (Rick Carlisle, Larry Costello, Billy Cunningham, Tom Heinsohn, Red Holzman, Phil Jackson, Buddy Jeannette, K.C. Jones, Steve Kerr, Tyronn Lue, Pat Riley, Bill Russell, George Senesky, and Bill Sharman) also won championships as players, with both Buddy Jeannette and Bill Russell having won their only manager titles as player-coach. Pat Riley, Tyronn Lue and Paul Westhead are the only three coaches who have led teams to titles having only arrived in mid-season.

Key YrsNumber of years coachedGCGames coachedWWinsLLossesWin%Winning percentage^Denotes coach who is currently coaching an NBA team*Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach

List 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 * San Antonio Spurs (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2014) – 29 2,214 1,390 824 .628 284 170 114 .599 5 * Los Angeles Lakers (1982, 1985, 1987, 1988)Miami Heat (2006) –, –, – 24 1,904 1,210 694 .636 282 171 111 .606 4 ^ Golden State Warriors (2015, 2017, 2018, 2022) –present 12 957 604 353 .631 152 104 48 .684 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 ^ Miami Heat (2012, 2013) –present 18 1,441 830 611 .576 193 110 83 .570 2* Houston Rockets (1994, 1995) –, 13 943 527 416 .559 90 51 39 .567 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 ^ New York Knicks (2026) –, –, , –, –present 12 840 507 333 .604 109 66 43 .606 1 Milwaukee Bucks (2021) –, 11 883 520 363 .589 104 56 48 .538 1^ Dallas Mavericks (2011) –, –present 24 1,935 1,012 923 .523 173 86 87 .497 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 ^ Oklahoma City Thunder (2025) –present 6 482 275 207 .571 48 33 15 .688 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 10 693 404 289 .583 98 57 41 .582 1 Denver Nuggets (2023) – 12 904 510 394 .564 80 44 36 .550 1 ^ Boston Celtics (2024) –present 4 328 238 90 .726 57 36 21 .632 1 Washington Bullets (1978) –, –, –, – 25 1,952 935 1,017 .479 126 56 70 .444 1 ^ Toronto Raptors (2019) –present 8 636 343 293 .539 58 31 27 .534 1 * Portland Trail Blazers (1977) –, – 21 1,647 864 783 .525 102 44 58 .431 1* Boston Celtics (2008) –, – 27 2,060 1,194 866 .580 226 114 112 .504 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) –, –, 12 902 480 422 .532 92 49 43 .533 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

See also NBA Coach of the Year Award List of NBA champions List of NBA players with most championships List of individuals with most NBA championships

Notes

Each year is linked to an article about the BAA/NBA Finals in that year. Each year is linked to an article about that particular BAA/NBA season.

References Citations

Sources