List of Los Angeles Lakers head coaches

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 Crypto.com Arena 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 11 times.[4] According to Forbes magazine, the Lakers are the second most valuable basketball franchise in the NBA, valued at approximately US$4.4 billion, surpassed only by the New York Knicks.[5] The Lakers are majority-owned by Jerry Buss's family trust, while Rob Pelinka is the general manager.[6]

There have been 26 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 (902), most playoff games coached (181), most regular-season game wins (610), and most playoff wins (118). The Lakers have won 17 championships; five with Kundla, five with Jackson, four with Riley, one with Bill Sharman, one with Paul Westhead, and one with Frank Vogel.[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, 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, Pat Riley, Magic Johnson, Kurt Rambis, Byron Scott, and Luke Walton have all played and coached for the Lakers.

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

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

# Name Term[b] GC W L Win% GC W L Win% Achievements Reference
Regular season Playoffs
Minneapolis Lakers
1 John Kundla*† 19481958 653 390 263 .597 82 54 28 .659 5 Championships (1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954)[7]
One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[13]
[9]
2 George Mikan* 1958 39 9 30 .231 [14]
John Kundla*† 1958–1959 72 33 39 .458 13 6 7 .462 One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[13] [9]
3 John Castellani* 1959–1960 36 11 25 .306 [15]
4 Jim Pollard 1960 39 14 25 .359 9 5 4 .556 [16]
Los Angeles Lakers
5 Fred Schaus* 19601967 560 315 245 .563 71 33 38 .465 [17]
6 Butch van Breda Kolff 19671969 164 107 57 .652 33 21 12 .636 [18]
7 Joe Mullaney 19691971 164 94 70 .573 30 16 14 .533 [19]
8 Bill Sharman 19711976 410 246 164 .600 37 22 15 .595 1971–72 NBA Coach of the Year[8]
1 Championship (1972)[7]
[10]
9 Jerry West* 19761979 246 145 101 .589 22 8 14 .364 [20]
10 Jack McKinney 1979 14 10 4 .714 [21]
11 Paul Westhead 19791981 161 111 50 .689 19 13 6 .684 1 Championship (1980)[7] [22]
12 Pat Riley 19811990 727 533 194 .733 149 102 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]
13 Mike Dunleavy 19901992 164 101 63 .616 23 13 10 .565 [23]
14 Randy Pfund* 19921994 146 66 80 .452 5 2 3 .400 [24]
15 Bill Bertka* 1994 2 1 1 .500 [25]
16 Magic Johnson* 1994 16 5 11 .313 [26]
17 Del Harris 19941999 340 224 116 .659 36 17 19 .472 1994–95 NBA Coach of the Year[8] [27]
Bill Bertka* 1999 1 1 0 1.000 [25]
18 Kurt Rambis 1999 37 24 13 .649 8 3 5 .375 [28]
19 Phil Jackson 19992004 410 287 123 .700 92 64 28 .696 3 Championships (2000, 2001, 2002)[7]
One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[13]
[12]
20 Rudy Tomjanovich 2004–2005 43 24 19 .558 [29]
21 Frank Hamblen 2005 39 10 29 .256 [30]
Phil Jackson 20052011 492 323 169 .657 89 54 35 .607 2 Championships (2009, 2010)[7]
One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[13]
[12]
22 Mike Brown 20112012 71 42 29 .591 12 5 7 .417 [31]
23 Bernie Bickerstaff 2012 5 4 1 .800 [32]
24 Mike D'Antoni 20122014 154 67 87 .435 4 0 4 .000 [33]
25 Byron Scott 20142016 164 38 126 .227 [34]
26 Luke Walton 20162019 246 98 148 .398 [35]
27 Frank Vogel 20192022 225 127 98 .564 27 18 9 .667 1 Championship (2020)[7] [36]
28 Darvin Ham 20222024 164 90 74 .549 16 9 12 .429 [37]
29 JJ Redick 2024–present 0 0 0 0 0 0 [38]

Notes

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  • 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

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General
  • "Los Angeles Lakers Coach Register". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on June 24, 2008. Retrieved June 21, 2008.
  • "Lakers: Los Angeles Lakers History". NBA.com. Archived from the original on February 17, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2008.
Specific
  1. ^ a b c "Los Angeles Lakers History". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on February 17, 2012. Retrieved June 21, 2008.
  2. ^ "About STAPLES Center". L.A. Arena Company. Archived from the original on September 14, 2011. Retrieved June 25, 2008.
  3. ^ Reavis, Tracey (2000). The Official NBA Basketball Encyclopedia. Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-50130-9.
  4. ^ "Odom scores 31, Lakers beat Mavericks 112-108 to clinch a playoff berth". Yahoo! Sports. Archived from the original on November 6, 2015. Retrieved July 3, 2008.
  5. ^ "The Business of Basketball". Forbes. Archived from the original on May 20, 2012. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  6. ^ Markazi, Arash (February 18, 2013). "Buss family won't sell Lakers". ESPNLosAngeles.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. Archived from the original on February 19, 2013. Retrieved April 17, 2013.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h "NBA Finals: All-Time Champions". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on August 17, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2008.
  8. ^ a b c d "Coach of the Year". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on September 15, 2010. Retrieved November 16, 2008.
  9. ^ a b c "John Kundla Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on May 17, 2009. Retrieved June 21, 2008.
  10. ^ a b "Bill Sharman Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved June 22, 2008.
  11. ^ a b "Pat Riley Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on March 7, 2011. Retrieved June 22, 2008.
  12. ^ a b c "Phil Jackson Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on February 11, 2011. Retrieved June 22, 2008.
  13. ^ a b c d e "Top 10 Coaches in NBA History". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on January 19, 2010. Retrieved July 30, 2008.
  14. ^ "George Mikan Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on July 2, 2008. Retrieved June 21, 2008.
  15. ^ "John Castellani Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on July 1, 2008. Retrieved June 22, 2008.
  16. ^ "Jim Pollard Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on February 24, 2011. Retrieved June 22, 2008.
  17. ^ "Fred Schaus Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on July 1, 2008. Retrieved June 22, 2008.
  18. ^ "Butch Van Breda Kolff Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved June 22, 2008.
  19. ^ "Joe Mullaney Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on November 1, 2011. Retrieved June 22, 2008.
  20. ^ "Jerry West Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on March 2, 2012. Retrieved June 22, 2008.
  21. ^ "Jack MckInney Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on December 19, 2008. Retrieved June 22, 2008.
  22. ^ "Paul Westhead Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on February 25, 2011. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  23. ^ "Mike Dunleavy Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on June 1, 2008. Retrieved June 22, 2008.
  24. ^ "Randy Pfund Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on July 1, 2008. Retrieved June 22, 2008.
  25. ^ a b "Bill Bertka Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on June 24, 2008. Retrieved June 22, 2008.
  26. ^ "Magic Johnson Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on June 16, 2008. Retrieved June 22, 2008.
  27. ^ "Del Harris Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on March 9, 2011. Retrieved June 22, 2008.
  28. ^ "Kurt Rambis Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on July 2, 2008. Retrieved June 22, 2008.
  29. ^ "Rudy Tomjanovich Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on March 20, 2019. Retrieved June 22, 2008.
  30. ^ "Frank Hamblem Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on July 1, 2008. Retrieved June 22, 2008.
  31. ^ "Mike Brown Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on May 10, 2010. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
  32. ^ "Bernie Bickerstaff Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on August 7, 2011. Retrieved December 18, 2012.
  33. ^ "Mike D'Antoni Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on October 4, 2011. Retrieved December 18, 2012.
  34. ^ "Byron Scott Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on February 20, 2011. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  35. ^ "Luke Walton Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on January 20, 2019. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
  36. ^ "Frank Vogel Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
  37. ^ "Darvin Ham Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on September 27, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
  38. ^ "Lakers hiring Redick as new coach, sources say". ESPN.com. 2024-06-20. Retrieved 2024-06-21.