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List of Los Angeles Lakers Head Coaches

By: Author James

Posted on  - Last updated:

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 CoachYears Coached
John Kundla1948 – 1958
George Mikan1958
John Kundla1958–1959
John Castellani1959–1960
Jim Pollard1960
Fred Schaus1960 – 1967
Butch van Breda Kolff1967 – 1969
Joe Mullaney1969 – 1971
Bill Sharman1971 – 1976
Jerry West1976 – 1979
Jack McKinney1979
Paul Westhead1979 – 1981
Pat Riley1981 – 1990
Mike Dunleavy1990 – 1992
Randy Pfund1992 – 1994
Bill Bertka1994
Magic Johnson1994
Del Harris1994 – 1999
Bill Bertka1999
Kurt Rambis1999
Phil Jackson1999 – 2004
Rudy Tomjanovich2004–2005
Frank Hamblen2005
Phil Jackson2005 – 2011
Mike Brown2011 – 2012
Bernie Bickerstaff2012
Mike D’Antoni2012 – 2014
Byron Scott2014 – 2016
Luke Walton2016 – 2019
Frank Vogel2019 – 2022
Darvin Ham2022 –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 CoachYears as Lakers Head Coach
Phil Jackson11
John Kundla10
Pat Riley9
Fred Schaus7
Bill Sharman5
Del Harris5
Jerry West3
Luke Walton3
Frank Vogel3
Butch van Breda Kolff2
Joe Mullaney2
Paul Westhead2
Mike Dunleavy2
Randy Pfund2
Mike D’Antoni2
Byron Scott2
John Kundla1
John Castellani1
Rudy Tomjanovich1
Mike Brown1
George MikanLess than 1 season
Jim PollardLess than 1 season
Jack McKinneyLess than 1 season
Bill BertkaLess than 1 season
Magic JohnsonLess than 1 season
Bill BertkaLess than 1 season
Kurt RambisLess than 1 season
Frank HamblenLess than 1 season
Bernie BickerstaffLess than 1 season
Darvin HamCurrently in his first season
Table of Lakers coaches by year coached

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 CoachNumber of NBA Championships
John Kundla5
Phil Jackson5
Pat Riley4
Bill Sharman1
Paul Westhead1
Frank Vogel1
George Mikan0
John Kundla0
John Castellani0
Jim Pollard0
Fred Schaus0
Butch van Breda Kolff0
Joe Mullaney0
Jerry West0
Jack McKinney0
Mike Dunleavy0
Randy Pfund0
Bill Bertka0
Magic Johnson0
Del Harris0
Bill Bertka0
Kurt Rambis0
Rudy Tomjanovich0
Frank Hamblen0
Mike Brown0
Bernie Bickerstaff0
Mike D’Antoni0
Byron Scott0
Luke Walton0
Darvin Ham0

List of Lakers Head Coaches by Regular Season Win Percentage

Lakers Head CoachRegular Season win percentage
John Kundla0.597
George Mikan0.231
John Kundla0.458
John Castellani0.306
Jim Pollard0.359
Fred Schaus
Butch van Breda Kolff0.563
Joe Mullaney0.652
Bill Sharman0.573
Jerry West0.6
Jack McKinney0.589
Paul Westhead0.714
Pat Riley0.689
Mike Dunleavy0.733
Randy Pfund0.616
Bill Bertka0.452
Magic Johnson0.5
Del Harris0.313
Bill Bertka0.659
Kurt Rambis1
Phil Jackson0.649
Rudy Tomjanovich0.7
Frank Hamblen0.558
Phil Jackson0.256
Mike Brown0.657
Bernie Bickerstaff0.591
Mike D’Antoni0.8
Byron Scott0.435
Luke Walton0.227
Frank Vogel0.398
Darvin Ham0.564

List of Lakers Head Coaches by NBA Play-Off Win Percentages

Lakers Head CoachNBA Playoffs Win Percentage
John Kundla0.659
George Mikan0
John Kundla0.462
John Castellani0
Jim Pollard0.556
Fred Schaus0.465
Butch van Breda Kolff0.636
Joe Mullaney0.533
Bill Sharman0.595
Jerry West0.364
Jack McKinney0
Paul Westhead0.684
Pat Riley0.685
Mike Dunleavy0.565
Randy Pfund0.4
Bill Bertka0
Magic Johnson0
Del Harris0.472
Bill Bertka0
Kurt Rambis0.375
Phil Jackson0.696
Rudy Tomjanovich0
Frank Hamblen0
Phil Jackson0.607
Mike Brown0.417
Bernie Bickerstaff0
Mike D’Antoni0
Byron Scott0
Luke Walton0
Frank Vogel0.667
Darvin Ham0