The NBA Playoffs are where players become stars and stars become legends.
But behind every roster of players is a head coach that has guided them every step of the way. Without the leadership of Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan may not be the icon he is today. The same goes for other coach-player duos like Steve Kerr and Steph Curry or Gregg Popovich and Tim Duncan.
A handful of coaches have built reputations as postseason experts through the years. Sustained playoff success despite high roster turnover is one of the biggest hallmarks of excellent coaching (looking at you, Erik Spoelstra).
MORE: Why the genius of Steve Kerr could spell trouble for the Lakers
Without further ado, here are the ten coaches with the most NBA Playoff wins of all-time, listed in ascending order:
Most NBA Playoff wins by head coaches
10. K.C. Jones (81 wins)
- Teams coached: Washington Bullets, Boston Celtics, Seattle SuperSonics
- Years active: 1973-1992
Jones sneaks onto the list at the No. 10 spot. A successful Celtics player, he returned to his former team as a coach and won two championships with Larry Bird leading the way on the court. He also helped lead the Washington Bullets to an NBA Finals appearance in 1975 and an Eastern Conference finals appearance the following year.
T-8. Jerry Sloan (98 wins)
- Teams coached: Chicago Bulls, Utah Jazz
- Years active: 1979-2011
Sloan spent most of his playing career with the Bulls and took over as head coach of his former team in 1979. But after just one playoff appearance in his first three seasons, he was fired.
He had much more success in Utah, where he spent 23 years at the helm of the Jazz. With players like Karl Malone and John Stockton at his disposal, he made the playoffs in 16 straight seasons and became the first NBA head coach to reach 1,000 wins with a single team. However, despite decades of success on the court, a championship eluded him for his whole career.
T-8. Steve Kerr (98 wins)
- Teams coached: Golden State Warriors
- Years active: 2014-present
Kerr has overseen the creation of a dynasty in the Bay Area. As head coach of the Warriors, he has already won four championships in less than ten years and reached the NBA Finals a further two times. He still has never lost a playoff series outside of the finals in nearly a decade of coaching, and he has the highest postseason winning percentage of any coach in NBA history.
It certainly helps when you have Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson pulling the strings on the court, but Kerr has rightfully earned a reputation as one of the best coaches in the league. He will more than likely rise higher on this lists the 2023 playoffs continue.
7. Red Auerbach (99 wins)
- Teams coached: Washington Capitols, Tri-Cities Blackhawks, Boston Celtics
- Years active: 1949-1966
Auerbach's reign in Boston coincided with one of the greatest dynasties in basketball history. Between 1957 and 1966, the Celtics won nine out of ten possible NBA Championships and lost in finals in the only year they didn't win it all. When he retired from coaching in 1966 and handed the keys to his star center, Bill Russell, he did so as a Boston sports legend. His nine titles remain the second-most by an NBA head coach behind only Phil Jackson (11).
6. Larry Brown (100 wins)
- Teams coached: Denver Nuggets, New Jersey Nets, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Clippers, Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers, Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks, Charlotte Bobcats
- Years active: 1974-2010
Brown had a long and successful NBA coaching career that spanned 36 years. His lone championship came during his tenure with the Pistons in 2004, but he also made a run to the finals with the 76ers in 2001. He was named NBA Coach of the Year in 2001, and he remains the only person to have won the NBA Finals and the NCAA Championship as a head coach (he accomplished the latter with Kansas in 1988).
5. Erik Spoelstra (101 wins)
- Teams coached: Miami Heat
- Years active: 2008-present
Spoelstra is the definition of a coach that thrives in the postseason. In his 15 seasons as head coach of the Heat, he has missed the playoffs just three times. He has advanced to the Eastern Conference finals six times, the NBA Finals five times and won two championships in 2012 and 2013.
It seems that no matter which players are on the Heat in a given season, they are always a threat to make a playoff run. Spoelstra's two titles both came during LeBron James' time in Miami, but he also came close to winning a ring in 2020 as a No. 5 seed with a core trio of Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro. He made magic once again this postseason by knocking off Giannis Antetokounmpo and the No.1-seeded Bucks in the first round.
4. Doc Rivers (109 wins)
- Teams coached: Orlando Magic, Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Clippers, Philadelphia 76ers
- Years active: 1999-present
After a successful playing career, Rivers entered the coaching world with the Magic in 1999. He proceeded to win NBA Coach of the Year in his first season on the job and turned a perennial basement-dweller into a solid playoff team, making the postseason in three consecutive seasons.
However, his first playoff series win didn't come until 2008 when he was in charge in Boston. The Celtics went on to win a championship that season, the first and only title of Rivers' career to date. However, he has missed the playoffs just once in the last 15 years and lost in the first round just three times. That sustained success has been enough to vault him up this list in recent years.
3. Gregg Popovich (169 wins)
- Teams coached: San Antonio Spurs
- Years active: 1996-present
After a rocky debut season as head coach of the Spurs, Popovich selected Tim Duncan out of Wake Forest with the first pick in the 1997 NBA Draft. That choice altered the trajectory of the entire franchise. Popovich and Duncan formed a close partnership that delivered five titles to the city of San Antonio in the span of 15 years. Popovich also earned himself Coach of the year honors on three occasions (2003, 2012, 2014).
Since the departure of Duncan — and other stars like Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili — the lean times have returned. But there is no denying the greatness of the Spurs dynasty "Pop" helped build.
2. Pat Riley (171 wins)
- Teams coached: Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Miami Heat
- Years active: 1981-2008
Riley's first few months on the job as the Lakers' head coach were awkward, to say the least. He was initially supposed to be an assistant to Jerry West, but West balked at the opportunity. That briefly left Riley and West as "co-coaches" before Riley officially took over in late 1981.
What followed was nothing short of incredible, as Riley helped usher in the "Showtime" era in Los Angeles with Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar leading the way. He won a championship in his first year on the job, then proceeded to win three more in the next six seasons. After a brief stop with the Knicks, he took over in Miami and helped the Heat win a title in 2006 — 24 years after he won his first back in 1982.
1. Phil Jackson (229 wins)
- Teams coached: Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers
- Years active: 1989-2011
Simply put, Jackson is the greatest coach in NBA history. We may never see another coach as dominant and successful as he was again in any major sport.
After taking over as the head coach of the Bulls in 1989, he helped Michael Jordan earn his first championship ring the following season. It was one of six the duo would ultimately win together before Jackson was unceremoniously forced out of Chicago by GM Jerry Krause.
He returned to the league one year later with the Lakers and rattled off three straight titles in his first three years in charge. Under Jackson's guidance, the talented duo Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal delivered on its immense potential.
He retired in 2011 with a winning record in every season of his coaching career. His 11 total championships are not only the most by a head coach in NBA history, but also the most by a head coach in any of the four major American sports.
