The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the most famous NBA Basketball teams. The franchise holds the most amount of NBA Championship wins, along with the Boston Celtics. Therefore, it may make you wonder who were the head coaches who led the Lakers to these Championships. Below is a list of Los Angeles Lakers.
Lakers Head Coach | Years Coached |
---|---|
John Kundla | 1948 – 1958 |
George Mikan | 1958 |
John Kundla | 1958–1959 |
John Castellani | 1959–1960 |
Jim Pollard | 1960 |
Fred Schaus | 1960 – 1967 |
Butch van Breda Kolff | 1967 – 1969 |
Joe Mullaney | 1969 – 1971 |
Bill Sharman | 1971 – 1976 |
Jerry West | 1976 – 1979 |
Jack McKinney | 1979 |
Paul Westhead | 1979 – 1981 |
Pat Riley | 1981 – 1990 |
Mike Dunleavy | 1990 – 1992 |
Randy Pfund | 1992 – 1994 |
Bill Bertka | 1994 |
Magic Johnson | 1994 |
Del Harris | 1994 – 1999 |
Bill Bertka | 1999 |
Kurt Rambis | 1999 |
Phil Jackson | 1999 – 2004 |
Rudy Tomjanovich | 2004–2005 |
Frank Hamblen | 2005 |
Phil Jackson | 2005 – 2011 |
Mike Brown | 2011 – 2012 |
Bernie Bickerstaff | 2012 |
Mike D’Antoni | 2012 – 2014 |
Byron Scott | 2014 – 2016 |
Luke Walton | 2016 – 2019 |
Frank Vogel | 2019 – 2022 |
Darvin Ham | 2022 –present |
List of Los Angeles Coaches by years coached
If you have seen the above list of Los Angeles Lakers Head Coaches above you may now be wondering which Lakers Head Coach, coached the longest. Well we have you covered with the below table.
Lakers Head Coach | Years as Lakers Head Coach |
Phil Jackson | 11 |
John Kundla | 10 |
Pat Riley | 9 |
Fred Schaus | 7 |
Bill Sharman | 5 |
Del Harris | 5 |
Jerry West | 3 |
Luke Walton | 3 |
Frank Vogel | 3 |
Butch van Breda Kolff | 2 |
Joe Mullaney | 2 |
Paul Westhead | 2 |
Mike Dunleavy | 2 |
Randy Pfund | 2 |
Mike D’Antoni | 2 |
Byron Scott | 2 |
John Kundla | 1 |
John Castellani | 1 |
Rudy Tomjanovich | 1 |
Mike Brown | 1 |
George Mikan | Less than 1 season |
Jim Pollard | Less than 1 season |
Jack McKinney | Less than 1 season |
Bill Bertka | Less than 1 season |
Magic Johnson | Less than 1 season |
Bill Bertka | Less than 1 season |
Kurt Rambis | Less than 1 season |
Frank Hamblen | Less than 1 season |
Bernie Bickerstaff | Less than 1 season |
Darvin Ham | Currently in his first season |
Phil Jackson is the longest tenured Lakers head coach. He held the position for a total of 11 seasons, winning 5 titles. He took a break in 2004 after the Shaq & Kobe Lakers failed to win their fourth title in a row after adding hall of famers Gary Payton and Karl Malone. He returned the next season and went on to win 2 more titles after pairing Kobe with Spanish big man Pau Gasol. In total Phil Jackson won 11 titles as a head coach. 5 with Kobe at the Lakers and before that 6 with Michael Jordan and the Bulls. Jackson also won 2 rings as a player on the Knicks, meaning he has won a massive 13 NBA Championships in his career.
John Kundla coached less seasons for the Lakers, but won the same amount of titles as Jackson (5). None of these titles were won in LA though, as he was the coach during the George Mikan era when the Lakers were based in Minneapolis.
Pat Riley is third on the list of most seasons as Lakers Head Coach and also third on the NBA Championships list, winning 4 in LA as Head Coach of the Lakers.
The evidence is clear, if you win for the Lakers Franchise they will keep you around, or maybe… if you stick around long enough you’re sure to win eventually with LA!
List of Lakers Head Coaches by Championships
The Lakers have 17 NBA Championships but how many does each head coach have? The below list highlights which Lakers head coach won the most championships. Frank Vogel is the most recent Lakers Head Coach to win a title. He took the 2020 NBA Title that was moved to the Orlando Bubble due to the Covid outbreak. Running out Lebron James and Anthony Davis, they overwhelmed the Miami Heat in the Finals, something that i’m sure was a bitter pill for Heat GM and Former Lakers Head Coach Pat Riley to swallow, especially given the presence of 2 time Heat NBA Champion Lebron James in the Purple and gold.
Only 6 Head Coaches have ever won the NBA title in charge of the Lakers.
Lakers Head Coach | Number of NBA Championships |
John Kundla | 5 |
Phil Jackson | 5 |
Pat Riley | 4 |
Bill Sharman | 1 |
Paul Westhead | 1 |
Frank Vogel | 1 |
George Mikan | 0 |
John Kundla | 0 |
John Castellani | 0 |
Jim Pollard | 0 |
Fred Schaus | 0 |
Butch van Breda Kolff | 0 |
Joe Mullaney | 0 |
Jerry West | 0 |
Jack McKinney | 0 |
Mike Dunleavy | 0 |
Randy Pfund | 0 |
Bill Bertka | 0 |
Magic Johnson | 0 |
Del Harris | 0 |
Bill Bertka | 0 |
Kurt Rambis | 0 |
Rudy Tomjanovich | 0 |
Frank Hamblen | 0 |
Mike Brown | 0 |
Bernie Bickerstaff | 0 |
Mike D’Antoni | 0 |
Byron Scott | 0 |
Luke Walton | 0 |
Darvin Ham | 0 |
List of Lakers Head Coaches by Regular Season Win Percentage
Lakers Head Coach | Regular Season win percentage |
John Kundla | 0.597 |
George Mikan | 0.231 |
John Kundla | 0.458 |
John Castellani | 0.306 |
Jim Pollard | 0.359 |
Fred Schaus | |
Butch van Breda Kolff | 0.563 |
Joe Mullaney | 0.652 |
Bill Sharman | 0.573 |
Jerry West | 0.6 |
Jack McKinney | 0.589 |
Paul Westhead | 0.714 |
Pat Riley | 0.689 |
Mike Dunleavy | 0.733 |
Randy Pfund | 0.616 |
Bill Bertka | 0.452 |
Magic Johnson | 0.5 |
Del Harris | 0.313 |
Bill Bertka | 0.659 |
Kurt Rambis | 1 |
Phil Jackson | 0.649 |
Rudy Tomjanovich | 0.7 |
Frank Hamblen | 0.558 |
Phil Jackson | 0.256 |
Mike Brown | 0.657 |
Bernie Bickerstaff | 0.591 |
Mike D’Antoni | 0.8 |
Byron Scott | 0.435 |
Luke Walton | 0.227 |
Frank Vogel | 0.398 |
Darvin Ham | 0.564 |
List of Lakers Head Coaches by NBA Play-Off Win Percentages
Lakers Head Coach | NBA Playoffs Win Percentage |
John Kundla | 0.659 |
George Mikan | 0 |
John Kundla | 0.462 |
John Castellani | 0 |
Jim Pollard | 0.556 |
Fred Schaus | 0.465 |
Butch van Breda Kolff | 0.636 |
Joe Mullaney | 0.533 |
Bill Sharman | 0.595 |
Jerry West | 0.364 |
Jack McKinney | 0 |
Paul Westhead | 0.684 |
Pat Riley | 0.685 |
Mike Dunleavy | 0.565 |
Randy Pfund | 0.4 |
Bill Bertka | 0 |
Magic Johnson | 0 |
Del Harris | 0.472 |
Bill Bertka | 0 |
Kurt Rambis | 0.375 |
Phil Jackson | 0.696 |
Rudy Tomjanovich | 0 |
Frank Hamblen | 0 |
Phil Jackson | 0.607 |
Mike Brown | 0.417 |
Bernie Bickerstaff | 0 |
Mike D’Antoni | 0 |
Byron Scott | 0 |
Luke Walton | 0 |
Frank Vogel | 0.667 |
Darvin Ham | 0 |