List of Houston Rockets head coaches

The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. They are a member of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). They have played their home games at Toyota Center since 2003. Founded by Robert Breitbard in San Diego, the team first joined the NBA in 1967 as an expansion team.[1] After four losing seasons,[2] however, the team was sold to a group of investors based in Houston.[1] The group subsequently relocated the team to Houston, where the Rockets have remained for 37 seasons.[2] The franchise won its only two NBA titles in 1994 and 1995.[3]

There have been 15 head coaches for the Houston Rockets franchise. Jack McMahon, the team's first head coach, compiled a 61–129 record during his tenure.[4] Rudy Tomjanovich, who led the Rockets to their two championships, is the franchise's all-time leader in both regular-season and playoff games coached and wins.[5][3] Alex Hannum, Tex Winter, Kevin McHale, Bill Fitch, Rudy Tomjanovich and Rick Adelman have been enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.[6] Tom Nissalke, Don Chaney and Mike D'Antoni were named Coach of the Year during their tenures as head coaches. Both Tex Winter and Johnny Egan have spent their entire NBA head coaching careers with the Rockets.[7][8][9] Egan, Tomjanovich, and Rick Adelman formerly played for the Rockets.[10][11][12]

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

Coaches

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Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2023–24 season.

# Name Term[b] GC W L Win% GC W L Win% Achievements Reference
Regular season Playoffs
San Diego Rockets
1 Jack McMahon 19671969 190 61 129 .321 6 2 4 .333 [4]
2 Alex Hannum 19691971 138 58 80 .420 [6]
Houston Rockets
3 Tex Winter†* 19711973 129 51 78 .395 [7]
4 Johnny Egan* 19731976 281 129 152 .459 8 3 5 .375 [8]
5 Tom Nissalke 19761979 246 124 122 .504 14 6 8 .429 1976–77 NBA Coach of the Year[13] [9]
6 Del Harris 19791983 328 141 187 .430 31 15 16 .484 [14]
7 Bill Fitch 19831988 410 216 194 .527 39 21 18 .538 One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[15] [16]
8 Don Chaney 19881992 298 164 134 .550 11 2 9 .182 1990–91 NBA Coach of the Year[13] [17]
9 Rudy Tomjanovich 19922003 900 503 397 .559 90 51 39 .567 2 NBA championships (1994, 1995) [3]
10 Jeff Van Gundy 20032007 328 182 146 .555 19 7 12 .368 [18]
11 Rick Adelman 20072011 328 193 135 .588 19 9 10 .474 4th longest winning streak in NBA history [19]
12 Kevin McHale 20112015 323 193 130 .598 29 13 16 .448 [20][21]
13 J. B. Bickerstaff 2015–2016 71 37 34 .521 5 1 4 .200 [22]
14 Mike D'Antoni 20162020 318 217 101 .682 51 28 23 .549 2016–17 NBA Coach of the Year[23] [24]
15 Stephen Silas* 20202023 236 59 177 .250 [25]
16 Ime Udoka 2023–present 82 41 41 .500 [26]

Notes

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  • a A running total of the number of coaches of the Rockets. 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

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General
  • "Houston Rockets Coach Register". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on February 8, 2021. Retrieved May 17, 2008.
  • "2008-09 Houston Rockets Media Guide" (PDF). NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 19, 2009. Retrieved November 12, 2008.
Specific
  1. ^ a b "Owners, fans waited years before Rockets took off". Houston Chronicle. Hearst Newspapers. September 20, 2001. Archived from the original on May 4, 2010. Retrieved May 13, 2008.
  2. ^ a b "Houston Rockets". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on June 26, 2004. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
  3. ^ a b c "Rudy Tomjanovich Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on March 20, 2019. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
  4. ^ a b "Jack McMahon Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on June 2, 2011. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
  5. ^ "Houston Rockets Coach Register". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on February 8, 2021. Retrieved May 17, 2008.
  6. ^ a b "Alex Hannum Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on March 23, 2019. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
  7. ^ a b "Tex Winter Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on August 7, 2011. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
  8. ^ a b "Johnny Egan Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
  9. ^ a b "Tom Nissalke Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on March 9, 2011. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
  10. ^ "Johnny Egan Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 3, 2010. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
  11. ^ "Rudy Tomjanovich Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on May 12, 2013. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
  12. ^ "Rick Adelman Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on June 16, 2010. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
  13. ^ a b "Coach of the Year". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on September 15, 2010. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
  14. ^ "Del Harris Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on March 9, 2011. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
  15. ^ "Top 10 Coaches in NBA History". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on February 9, 2012. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
  16. ^ "Bill Fitch Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 14, 2009. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
  17. ^ "Don Chaney Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
  18. ^ "Jeff Van Gundy Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on August 3, 2011. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
  19. ^ "Rick Adelman Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on March 1, 2011. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
  20. ^ "Kevin McHale Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on February 1, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2012.
  21. ^ Joseph, Adi (18 November 2015). "Kevin McHale fired as coach of 4-7 Houston Rockets, report says". Sporting News. Archived from the original on 26 October 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  22. ^ "J.B. Bickerstaff Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
  23. ^ Maloney, Jack (27 June 2017). "NBA Awards: Houston Rockets' Mike D'Antoni wins 2016-17 Coach of the Year". CBS Sports. Archived from the original on 12 April 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  24. ^ "Mike D'Antoni Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on October 4, 2011. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  25. ^ "Stephen Silas Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on May 17, 2021. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  26. ^ "Ime Udoka Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on November 23, 2021. Retrieved April 26, 2022.