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NBA coaches are the heartbeat of their team. They provide a game plan, are mentors for their players and quite often take the brunt of the responsibility when the team does not perform to expectation. Only the best coaches can earn a place in the league and even fewer have the opportunity to lead a side to Finals glory.
In this article, we will run down the five NBA coaches in the history of the league who have won the most rings while leading the team from the sideline.
The NBA's 5 most successful coaches
#5 Gregg Popovich
Gregg Popovich is the most decorated coach currently leading a team in the NBA and ranks fifth for most rings won of all time. After short stints with the San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors as an assistant, Popovich sealed the head coaching role with the Spurs in 1996, a job he has held ever since.
Popovich's Spurs teams have always been tough to beat and are constantly underestimated. He is known to get the best out of his players, bringing in those who are often overlooked and making them better.
In just his second season with the franchise, the San Antonio Spurs drafted Tim Duncan as the No.1 overall pick. With the versatile big man, Popovich would go on to create a dynasty with the Spurs, winning five championships in 16 years. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest coaches of all time and one of the most likable individuals in the game.
#4 Pat Riley
Prior to pulling all the strings as President of the Miami Heat, Pat Riley was an NBA champion both as a player and as a coach. In fact, akin to Popovich, the 76-year-old won five titles as a coach, four of which came in a seven-season span with the LA Lakers in the '80s and his fifth with the Miami Heat in 2006.
Riley's Lakers side were phenomenal and contained three future Hall-of-Famers in Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy. Aside from their four titles, Riley also led them to three other NBA Finals appearances, battling with the Detroit Pistons, Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers throughout the decade.
Later in his career, Riley took up the reigns twice as the head coach of the Miami Heat and was simultaneously the franchise's president at the time.
With Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal, Riley led the organization to its first ever NBA Finals appearance after defeating the Detroit Pistons in the Conference Finals. They would go on to win four games in a row against the Dallas Mavericks after going down two games in the title series.
#3 John Kundla
Back in the early days of the NBA, the Minneapolis Lakers dominated proceedings with league great John Kundla at the helm. Kundla would lead the team to five titles from 1949 to 1954. His sides included stars Jim Pollard and George Mikan, who would later enter the basketball Hall of Fame.
They weren't the only stars of Kundla's Lakers sides, though. His rosters also included future inductees Slater Martin, Vern Mikkelsen, Clyde Lovellette, Slick Leonard, Hot Rod Hundley and possibly the most famous - Elgin Baylor.
Kundla's side weren't just the first team in league history to win back-to-back titles, but were the first to three-peat. They were formidable in the West and had frequent battles with the New York Knicks, whom they beat on two occasions in the NBA Finals.
#2 Arnold 'Red' Auerbach
Coach of the Boston Celtics side that dominated the 1950s and '60s in the NBA, Arnold 'Red' Auerbach comes into our list second with nine rings. His time with the franchise was phenomenal, leading them to eight titles in a row from 1959-66 - still a North American sports record.
After years of disappointment in the playoffs, Auerbach set his sights on Bill Russell in the 1956 draft. The center would go on to become one of the greatest NBA players of all time and won nine of his rings with Auerbach, creating one of the finest dynasties in basketball history. In that same draft class, the C's would also pick up future Hall-of-Famers Tom Heinsohn and guard K.C. Jones.
Auerbach's Celtics teams were known for their ability on the fast-break and relied on Russell's phenomenal rebounding to help create opportunities on offense. They were well-balanced with several effective scorers and frustrated opponents with their deep roster.
#1 Phil Jackson
Perennial winner Phil Jackson sits atop our list, having won 11 rings as a head coach in the NBA. He did so in style too, with the best regular season and playoff win percentage of any coach in this top 5.
Though he didn't put up the greatest stats as a player, Jackson won two titles with the New York Knicks and took that experience into his career as a head coach. He would go on to lead some of the greatest teams of all time, including the Chicago Bulls of the 1990's with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman, whom he won six titles with.
Jackson then won another five NBA titles with the LA Lakers, including his third three-peat, coaching more greats such as Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant.
Although he won all of these championships, Jackson surprisingly won just one Coach of the Year award in 1996. He was an All-Star game head coach on four occasions and will be remembered for the way in which he helped some of the NBA's biggest stars achieve greatness.
Guess the Lakers players!
