The Cleveland Cavaliers are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The Cavaliers play in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team joined the NBA in 1970 as an expansion team and won their first Eastern Conference championship in 2007.[1] The Cavaliers have played their home games at the Quicken Loans Arena, formerly known as Gund Arena, since 1994.[2] The Cavaliers are owned by Dan Gilbert, David Katzman, and Gordon Gund, with Danny Ferry as their general manager.[3] American R&B-pop singer Usher Raymond is a minority owner.[4]
There have been 18 head coaches for the Cavaliers franchise. The franchise's first head coach was Bill Fitch, who coached for nine seasons. Fitch is the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular-season games coached (738);[5] Lenny Wilkens is the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular-season game wins (316); Mike Brown is the franchise's all-time leader for the most playoff games coached (71), the most playoff-game wins (42), and the highest regular-season winning percentage (.663).[6] Chuck Daly and Wilkens are the only Cavaliers coaches to have been elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach.[6][7] Fitch and Daly were also named one of the top 10 coaches in NBA history.[8] Fitch and Brown are the only Cavaliers coaches to have won the NBA Coach of the Year Award.[9] Brown and Don Delaney have spent their entire NBA coaching careers with the Cavaliers.[10][11][12]
Contents |
| GC | Games coached |
| W | Wins |
| L | Losses |
| Win% | Winning percentage |
| # | Number of coaches[a] |
| * | Spent entire NBA head coaching career with the Cavaliers |
| Elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach |
Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2010–11 season.
| # | Name | Term[b] | GC | W | L | Win% | GC | W | L | Win% | Achievements | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||
| 1 | Bill Fitch | 1970–1979 | 738 | 304 | 434 | .412 | 18 | 7 | 11 | .389 | 1975–76 NBA Coach of the Year[9] One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[8] |
[5] |
| 2 | Stan Albeck | 1979–1980 | 82 | 37 | 45 | .451 | — | — | — | — | [16] | |
| 3 | Bill Musselman | 1980–1981 | 71 | 25 | 46 | .352 | — | — | — | — | [17] | |
| 4 | Don Delaney* | 1981 | 26 | 7 | 19 | .269 | — | — | — | — | [10] | |
| 5 | Bob Kloppenburg | 1981 | 3 | 0 | 3 | .000 | — | — | — | — | [18] | |
| 6 | Chuck Daly | 1981–1982 | 41 | 9 | 32 | .220 | — | — | — | — | One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[8] | [7] |
| — | Bill Musselman | 1982 | 15 | 4 | 11 | .267 | — | — | — | — | [17] | |
| 7 | Tom Nissalke | 1982–1984 | 164 | 51 | 113 | .311 | — | — | — | — | [19] | |
| 8 | George Karl | 1984–1986 | 149 | 61 | 88 | .409 | 4 | 1 | 3 | .250 | [20] | |
| 9 | Gene Littles | 1986 | 15 | 4 | 11 | .267 | — | — | — | — | [21] | |
| 10 | Lenny Wilkens | 1986–1993 | 574 | 316 | 258 | .551 | 41 | 18 | 23 | .439 | One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[8] | [6] |
| 11 | Mike Fratello | 1993–1999 | 460 | 248 | 212 | .539 | 14 | 2 | 12 | .143 | [22] | |
| 12 | Randy Wittman | 1999–2001 | 164 | 62 | 102 | .378 | — | — | — | — | [23] | |
| 13 | John Lucas | 2001–2003 | 124 | 37 | 87 | .298 | — | — | — | — | [24] | |
| 14 | Keith Smart | 2003 | 40 | 9 | 31 | .225 | — | — | — | — | [11] | |
| 15 | Paul Silas | 2003–2005 | 146 | 69 | 77 | .473 | — | — | — | — | [25] | |
| 16 | Brendan Malone | 2005 | 18 | 8 | 10 | .444 | — | — | — | — | [26] | |
| 17 | Mike Brown | 2005–2010 | 410 | 272 | 138 | .663 | 71 | 42 | 29 | .592 | Eastern Conference championship (2007)[1] 2008–09 NBA Coach of the Year[9] |
[12] |
| 18 | Byron Scott | 2010–present | 82 | 19 | 63 | .232 | — | — | — | — | ||
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