List of Los Angeles Lakers head coaches

Phil Jackson has won five championships in two stints coached with the Lakers.

The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California, formerly known as the Minneapolis Lakers from 1948 to 1960.^[1] They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA) The Lakers have played their home games at the Staples Center since 1999.^[2] The franchise took its official name from Minnesota's nickname, the Land of 10,000 Lakes. At the time the name was revealed, the Lakers were in Minneapolis.^[3] In their franchise history, the team has only missed the NBA playoffs five times.^[4] According to Forbes magazine, the Lakers are the second most valuable basketball franchise in the NBA, valued at approximately US$1 billion, surpassed only by the New York Knicks.^[5] The Lakers are majority-owned by Jerry Buss's family trust, while Mitch Kupchak is the general manager.^[6]

There have been 24 head coaches for the Lakers since joining the NBA. The franchise's first head coach while in the NBA was John Kundla, who coached for 11 seasons with the Lakers.^[1] The Lakers won four additional NBA championships in the next five years under Kundla.^[1] Phil Jackson is the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular-season games coached (820), most playoff games coached (181), most regular-season game wins (553), and most playoff wins (118). The Lakers have won 16 championships; five with Kundla, five with Phil Jackson, four with Riley, one with Bill Sharman, and one with Paul Westhead.^[7] With the Lakers, Sharman, Riley, and Del Harris have won the NBA Coach of the Year Award, in 1972, 1990, and 1995 respectively.^[8] Kundla, Bill Sharman, Riley and Jackson have been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach.^{[9][10][11][12]} George Mikan, Jim Pollard, Jerry West, Riley, Magic Johnson, Kurt Rambis, and Byron Scott have all played and head coached for the Lakers.

Key

GC	Games coached
W	Wins
L	Losses
Win%	Winning percentage
#	Number of coaches[a]
*	Spent entire NBA head coaching career with the Lakers
	Elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach
*	Elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach and spent entire coaching career with the Lakers

Coaches

Jerry West was head coach of the Lakers for three seasons.

Pat Riley coached the team to four championships in the 1980s.

Mike D'Antoni, the previous head coach of the Lakers.

Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2013–14 season. The list does not include NBL seasons.

#	Name	Term[b]	GC	W	L	Win%	GC	W	L	Win%	Achievements	Reference
			Regular season				Playoffs
7000100000000000000♠1	Kundla, JohnJohn Kundla*	1948–1958	7002653000000000000♠653	7002390000000000000♠390	7002263000000000000♠263	.597	7001820000000000000♠82	7001540000000000000♠54	7001280000000000000♠28	.659	5 Championships (1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954)[7] One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[13]	[9]
7000200000000000000♠2	Mikan, GeorgeGeorge Mikan*	1958	7001390000000000000♠39	7000900000000000000♠9	7001300000000000000♠30	.231	7000100000000000000♠—	7000100000000000000♠—	7000100000000000000♠—	7000100000000000000♠—		[14]
7000300000000000000♠—	Kundla, JohnJohn Kundla*	1958–1959	7001720000000000000♠72	7001330000000000000♠33	7001390000000000000♠39	.458	7001130000000000000♠13	7000600000000000000♠6	7000700000000000000♠7	.462	One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[13]	[9]
7000400000000000000♠3	Castellani, JohnJohn Castellani*	1959–1960	7001360000000000000♠36	7001110000000000000♠11	7001250000000000000♠25	.306	7000100000000000000♠—	7000100000000000000♠—	7000100000000000000♠—	7000100000000000000♠—		[15]
7000500000000000000♠4	Pollard, JimJim Pollard	1960	7001390000000000000♠39	7001140000000000000♠14	7001250000000000000♠25	.359	7000900000000000000♠9	7000500000000000000♠5	7000400000000000000♠4	.556		[16]
7000600000000000000♠5	Schaus, FredFred Schaus*	1960–1967	7002560000000000000♠560	7002315000000000000♠315	7002245000000000000♠245	.563	7001710000000000000♠71	7001330000000000000♠33	7001380000000000000♠38	.465		[17]
7000700000000000000♠6	van Breda Kolff, ButchButch van Breda Kolff	1967–1969	7002164000000000000♠164	7002107000000000000♠107	7001570000000000000♠57	.652	7001330000000000000♠33	7001210000000000000♠21	7001120000000000000♠12	.636		[18]
7000800000000000000♠7	Mullaney, JoeJoe Mullaney	1969–1971	7002164000000000000♠164	7001940000000000000♠94	7001700000000000000♠70	.573	7001300000000000000♠30	7001160000000000000♠16	7001140000000000000♠14	.533		[19]
7000900000000000000♠8	Sharman, BillBill Sharman	1971–1976	7002410000000000000♠410	7002246000000000000♠246	7002164000000000000♠164	.600	7001370000000000000♠37	7001220000000000000♠22	7001150000000000000♠15	.595	1971–72 NBA Coach of the Year[8] 1 Championship (1972)[7]	[10]
7001100000000000000♠9	West, JerryJerry West*	1976–1979	7002246000000000000♠246	7002145000000000000♠145	7002101000000000000♠101	.589	7001220000000000000♠22	7000800000000000000♠8	7001140000000000000♠14	.364		[20]
7001110000000000000♠10	McKinney, JackJack McKinney	1979	7001140000000000000♠14	7001100000000000000♠10	7000400000000000000♠4	.714	7000100000000000000♠—	7000100000000000000♠—	7000100000000000000♠—	7000100000000000000♠—		[21]
7001120000000000000♠11	Westhead, PaulPaul Westhead	1979–1981	7002161000000000000♠161	7002111000000000000♠111	7001500000000000000♠50	.689	7001190000000000000♠19	7001130000000000000♠13	7000600000000000000♠6	.684	1 Championship (1980)[7]	[22]
7001130000000000000♠12	Riley, PatPat Riley	1981–1990	7002727000000000000♠727	7002533000000000000♠533	7002194000000000000♠194	.733	7002149000000000000♠149	7002102000000000000♠102	7001470000000000000♠47	.685	1989–90 NBA Coach of the Year[8] 4 Championships (1982, 1985, 1987, 1988)[7] One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[13]	[11]
7001140000000000000♠13	Dunleavy, MikeMike Dunleavy	1990–1992	7002164000000000000♠164	7002101000000000000♠101	7001630000000000000♠63	.616	7001230000000000000♠23	7001130000000000000♠13	7001100000000000000♠10	.565		[23]
7001150000000000000♠14	Pfund, RandyRandy Pfund*	1992–1994	7002146000000000000♠146	7001660000000000000♠66	7001800000000000000♠80	.452	7000500000000000000♠5	7000200000000000000♠2	7000300000000000000♠3	.400		[24]
7001160000000000000♠15	Bertka, BillBill Bertka*	1994	7000200000000000000♠2	7000100000000000000♠1	7000100000000000000♠1	.500	7000100000000000000♠—	7000100000000000000♠—	7000100000000000000♠—	7000100000000000000♠—		[25]
7001170000000000000♠16	Johnson, MagicMagic Johnson*	1994	7001160000000000000♠16	7000500000000000000♠5	7001110000000000000♠11	.313	7000100000000000000♠—	7000100000000000000♠—	7000100000000000000♠—	7000100000000000000♠—		[26]
7001180000000000000♠17	Harris, DelDel Harris	1994–1999	7002340000000000000♠340	7002224000000000000♠224	7002116000000000000♠116	.659	7001360000000000000♠36	7001170000000000000♠17	7001190000000000000♠19	.472	1994–95 NBA Coach of the Year[8]	[27]
7001190000000000000♠—	Bertka, BillBill Bertka*	1999	7000100000000000000♠1	7000100000000000000♠1	5000000000000000000♠0	1.000	7000100000000000000♠—	7000100000000000000♠—	7000100000000000000♠—	7000100000000000000♠—		[25]
7001200000000000000♠18	Rambis, KurtKurt Rambis	1999	7001370000000000000♠37	7001240000000000000♠24	7001130000000000000♠13	.649	7000800000000000000♠8	7000300000000000000♠3	7000500000000000000♠5	.375		[28]
7001210000000000000♠19	Jackson, PhilPhil Jackson	1999–2004	7002410000000000000♠410	7002287000000000000♠287	7002123000000000000♠123	.700	7001920000000000000♠92	7001640000000000000♠64	7001280000000000000♠28	.696	3 Championships (2000, 2001, 2002)[7] One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[13]	[12]
7001220000000000000♠20	Tomjanovich, RudyRudy Tomjanovich	2004–2005	7001430000000000000♠43	7001240000000000000♠24	7001190000000000000♠19	.558	7000100000000000000♠—	7000100000000000000♠—	7000100000000000000♠—	7000100000000000000♠—		[29]
7001230000000000000♠21	Hamblen, FrankFrank Hamblen	2005	7001390000000000000♠39	7001100000000000000♠10	7001290000000000000♠29	.256	7000100000000000000♠—	7000100000000000000♠—	7000100000000000000♠—	7000100000000000000♠—		[30]
7001240000000000000♠—	Jackson, PhilPhil Jackson	2005–2011	7002492000000000000♠492	7002323000000000000♠323	7002169000000000000♠169	.657	7001890000000000000♠89	7001540000000000000♠54	7001350000000000000♠35	.607	2 Championships (2009, 2010)[7] One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[13]	[12]
7001250000000000000♠22	Brown, MikeMike Brown	2011–2012	7001710000000000000♠71	7001420000000000000♠42	7001290000000000000♠29	.591	7001120000000000000♠12	7000500000000000000♠5	7000700000000000000♠7	.417		[31]
7001260000000000000♠23	Bickerstaff, BernieBernie Bickerstaff	2012	7000500000000000000♠5	7000400000000000000♠4	7000100000000000000♠1	.800	7000100000000000000♠—	7000100000000000000♠—	7000100000000000000♠—	7000100000000000000♠—		[32]
7001270000000000000♠24	D'Antoni, MikeMike D'Antoni	2012–2014	7002154000000000000♠154	7001670000000000000♠67	7001870000000000000♠87	.435	7000400000000000000♠4	5000000000000000000♠0	7000400000000000000♠4	.000		[33]
7001280000000000000♠25	Scott, ByronByron Scott	2014–present	7001820000000000000♠82	7001210000000000000♠21	7001610000000000000♠61	.258	5000000000000000000♠0	5000000000000000000♠0	5000000000000000000♠0	.000

Notes

• ^a A running total of the number of coaches of the Lakers. Thus, any coach who has two or more separate terms as head coach is only counted once.
• ^b Each year is linked to an article about that particular NBA season.

References

General

Specific