Every NBA head coach to win a championship

With the help of all-time greats such as Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, Phil Jackson has won a record 11 NBA championships as a head coach with the Bulls and Lakers. “The Zen Master” didn't have the best stint in the front with the Knicks, but Jackson is the only coach in NBA history with more rings than fingers.

Considered by some to be greatest basketball coach of all time, Red Auerbach won nine championships in during his 20-year tenure as head coach of the Boston Celtics. In fact, from 1959-1966, the Celts won eight straight NBA titles, guided by Auerbach.

Ever wonder why the Los Angeles Lakers are named the “Lakers”? The franchise actually began in the “land of 10,000 lakes,” Minneapolis, and didn’t move to Los Angeles until 1959. During their time in Minneapolis, head coach John Kundla led the Lakers to five NBA titles in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

One of just three head coaches to win an NBA championship with multiple teams, Pat Riley’s days of success began in the 1980s with Magic Johnson and the Lakers. After winning four titles in Los Angeles, Riley won another with the Miami Heat in 2006, when Dwyane Wade played like a superhuman for the coach.

Few coaches in professional sports have had the level of sustained success that Gregg Popovich has had with the San Antonio Spurs. Not only have the Spurs made the playoffs every season since 1997, but they have also won five championships over the course of three different decades, led by “Pop.”

The head coach of the “Bad Boys” Pistons, Chuck Daly helped bring two championships to Detroit in 1989 and 1990, respectively. Daly’s Pistons were the last hurdle Michael Jordan’s Bulls had to jump over to reach the promised land.

Alex Hannum won his first NBA championship as a head coach in 1957 with the Syracuse Nationals. Nine years later, he did the same with Wilt Chamberlain and the Philadelphia 76ers.

With players like John Havlicek, Dave Cowens, Jo Jo White and Paul Silas, Tom Heinsohn won two championships as head coach of the Boston Celtics in 1974 and 1976. He won nearly 62 percent of the games he coached in his nine seasons with the Celts.

Phil Jackson’s mentor, Red Red Holzman was the last coach in New York to lead the Knicks to a championship. Holzman did so twice, guiding his Knicks to championship-winning seasons in 1970 and 1973.

Led by the big three of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish, coach K.C. Jones and the Celtics won two championships in the 1980s. The first came in 1984 in seven games over the rival Lakers, and the second came in 1986 over Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets.

We all know and love Bill Russell for his incredible accomplishments as a player in the NBA, but it is often overlooked that Russell was a successful head coach as well. In fact, he is the last player-head coach to win an NBA title, as he won back-to-back titles with his Celtics in 1968 and 1969.

With Michael Jordan off playing baseball, the Rockets and head coach Rudy Tomjanovich made the most of MJ’s absence. With Hakeem Olajuwon leading the way, the Rockets won back-to-back NBA championships in 1994 and 1995.

Although some called him a stand-in for Pat Riley, Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra proved he is one of the better head coaches in the NBA when his team won back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013. Granted, with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on the floor, any coach is bound to be successful, but Spoelstra deserves a tremendous amount of credit for guiding his big three through two championship runs.

Among the best head coaches in the NBA today, Steve Kerr’s Golden State Warriors have won three championships in his first four seasons, reaching the NBA Finals all four years. His team is sure to be the favorite again in 2019.

Believe it or not, there was a time before present day that the Golden State Warriors were champions. Back in 1975, head coach Al Attles ushered in the Bay Area’s first NBA title, as his Warriors defeated the Washington Bullets in that year’s NBA Finals.

One of the greatest basketball coaches who just can’t seem to stay in one place, Larry Brown has coached 13 different professional or college basketball teams over the past 44 years. Brown won his lone title as a head coach in the NBA with the Pistons in 2004, when Detroit pulled off a stunning upset against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Rick Carlisle and the Dallas Mavericks stunned the basketball world in 2011 when they dismantled LeBron James and the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. It was Carlisle’s first championship as a head coach and the first NBA title victory in Mavs history.

Head coach Al Cervi won his lone NBA championship in 1955 with the Syracuse Nationals, when they took down the Fort Wayne Pistons in seven games.

With Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then Lew Alcindor) and Oscar Robertson dominating the competition, Larry Costello’s Milwaukee Bucks swept the Baltimore Bullets in the 1971 NBA Finals. It was Costello’s one and only championship win as a head coach in the NBA.

Coach Billy Cunningham guided Moses Malone and the Philadelphia 76ers to an NBA championship in 1983. The 76ers have not won an NBA title since.

Although he lost more games than he won as a head coach in the NBA, Bill Fitch did manage to take Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics all the way to the NBA Finals 1981, where they defeated the Rockets to capture the Larry O'Brien Trophy. Fitch also had stints as head coach of the Cavaliers, Rockets, Nets and Clippers before retiring in 1998.

Known affectionately as “Mr. Basketball,” coach Eddie Gottlieb led the Philadelphia Warriors to an NBA championship all the way back in 1947. Gottlieb was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1972, and the NBA Rookie of the Year Trophy is named after him.

One of the first proponents of the 24-second shot clock, Lester Harrison was a pretty darn good NBA coach as well. He won an NBA title as head coach of the Rochester Royals in 1951.

One of the NBA’s first great backcourt players, Buddy Jeannette went on be a successful coach in the NBA as well. Jeannette’s Baltimore Bullets won the 1948 NBA title in six games over the Philadelphia Warriors.

Facing the record-setting Warriors, who won the most regular-season games in NBA history (73) during the 2015-16 regular season, Tyronn Lue's Cavaliers fell behind 3-1 in the NBA Finals to the team that defeated them the season before. That's when LeBron James led Cleveland the a furious comeback, winning three straight to give Lue his first championship and end the drought in the Cleveland.

Along with having 935 regular-season wins as a head coach in the NBA, Dick Motta also won an NBA championship as coach of the Washington Bullets in 1978. Motta is also famous for coining the phrase: “It ain’t over 'till the fat lady sings.”

Beloved by players, coaches and fans alike for his work as a broadcaster, Jack Ramsay also won an NBA title as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers in 1977. When “Dr. Jack” died in 2014, the entire basketball world stopped for a moment and mourned his passing. Ramsay won 864 games as a coach in the NBA.

Although his tenure as head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers has been a rocky one when the postseason rolls around, there isn’t a single basketball fan who doubts the championship pedigree of Doc Rivers. Rivers led the Boston Celtics to their first NBA title in 22 years in 2008, when Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen were able to dismantle Kobe Bryant and the Lakers in six games.

Despite being a head coach in the NBA for just three years, George Senesky was able to guide the Philadelphia Warriors to a championship in 1956. Senesky played eight years as guard for Philly before becoming head coach in 1955.

After winning four championships as player for the Boston Celtics, Bill Sharman came out to the West Coast and became the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. Sharman, with the help of Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain, brought Los Angeles its first NBA title in 1972. The 1972 Lakers also set an NBA record for most consecutive wins with 33 straight victories.

Although basketball historians seem to gloss over it, Magic Johnson and the Lakers won the 1980 NBA title prior to the arrival of Pat Riley. Head coach Paul Westhead was the man to do it, but he and Magic often butted heads, ultimately leading to Westhead’s dismissal as the L.A. coach just a year later.

With 1,332 wins, Lenny Wilkens is second all time in total wins as a head coach in NBA history, just behind Don Nelson. Wilkens, however, only won one championship as a head coach in the NBA, doing so in 1979 with the Seattle SuperSonics. He also spent time as head coach of the Trail Blazers, Cavaliers, Hawks, Raptors and Knicks.