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As with players, Rings seem to validate coaches. Those who haven't won are sometimes disregarded despite years of consistency and some who happened to win once and failed on other occasions are regarded as elite. Like with players, the coaches on this list had to go up against some of the most dominant dynasties in NBA history and fell just short of winning the ultimate prize.
Here we rank the greatest coaches to never win a title.
#5 Cotton Fitzsimmons
Record: Regular Season: 832-775 (.518), Playoffs: 35-49 (.417)
Fitzsimmons coached in the NBA for 21 seasons, most of them with the Phoenix Suns. While he only made one playoff appearance in his first seven seasons, Fitz finally had some success in his initial years with the Kings. He led them to the Conference Finals in 1981, the first time in decades that the Kings had reached that far. They would, however, lose to the Moses Malone led Rockets. After mixed results with the Kings and the Spurs in the coming years, he'd return to the Suns in 1988, with the franchise in turmoil.
The Suns had been hit with the biggest drug scandal in the league in the 80's and were coming off a 28-win season. Murmurs regarding a relocation were banished as Fitz engineered a 27-game turnaround and the Suns won 55 games. They would lose to the Lakers in the Conference Finals. Despite beating the Lakers the following year, they'd lose to the Clyde Drexler led Blazers in the Conference Finals. In 1992, he retired to be an executive with the team. Fitz would have another brief stint as the coach but retired after coaching for 2 more seasons.
He was a 2-time Coach of the year and his teams were known for a player-friendly and crowd-pleasing style as he orchestrated some of the highest scoring teams of his time.
#4 Rick Adelman
Record: Regular Season: 1042-748 (.582), Playoffs: 79-78 (.503)
Rick Adelman is one of the greatest tacticians in NBA history. Adelman coached for 23 years and began his career with the Blazers in 1988. From 1989-1992 he led the Blazers to two NBA Finals and one Conference Finals. They lost in 1990 to the Pistons and in 1992 to the Bulls and to be fair they were 2nd best talent-wise to both teams. After some disappointing seasons in the coming years, he joined the Kings in 1998, a franchise which had 1 playoff appearance in 12 seasons.
Adelman led the Kings to the playoffs every year and they peaked in 2001-02. Winning 61 games, the Kings were the No.1 Seed in the West. They lost a very controversial Conference Finals to the Los Angeles Lakers in 7 games. It's rumored that game 6 of the series was rigged for the Lakers to win. He would never reach those heights again and after leaving the Kings, he had moderate success in Houston. Adelman would then coach the Timberwolves and despite improving the team record every season, he decided to retire in 2014.
Adelman was known for his player-friendly approach and generally made decisions his players would buy into. While he used the Corner Offense most of the time, Adelman would adjust based on personnel as he did with Yao Ming in Houston. He also wasn't hesitant to place responsibility on young players.
#3 George Karl
Record: Regular Season: 1175-824 (.588), Playoffs: 80-105 (.432)
George Karl coached in the NBA for 27 seasons and missed the playoffs only 5 times. Karl shot to fame as the coach of the Seattle SuperSonics. He averaged 59 wins a season in Seattle over 7 seasons and reached his zenith in 1995-96, winning 64 games. There was just one problem, they ran into the 72-win Bulls team in the NBA Finals and lost in 6 games. Tensions with management led to his departure in 1998.
Karl then joined the Bucks, a team which hadn't reached the playoffs in 7 years. He led them to the playoffs in his first 3 seasons which culminated with a Conference Finals loss to the Nets. However, after 2 disappointing seasons, he was fired and took over the Denver Nuggets. He would make the playoffs every season, but only got out of the 1st round once, a common theme throughout his career. His last coaching stint with the Kings was very disappointing and he was fired in 2 seasons.
Karl had plenty of flaws. He often blasted players in front of the media and had a few run-ins with management. His playoff record is often questioned for all his regular season success. But he is undoubtedly one of the most adaptable coaches we've ever seen. From a hard-nosed defensive team in Seattle to an offense-oriented Bucks and his Nuggets were an incredibly high paced team too.
#2 Don Nelson
Record: Regular Season: 1335-1063 (.557), Playoffs: 75-91 (.452)
Don Nelson coached in the NBA for 31 seasons and holds the record for most Regular Season wins in NBA history. Nelson pioneered the concept of Point Forward during his time with the Bucks, a concept we see so often in the NBA today. Despite several successful seasons with the Bucks, they were often eliminated either by the 76ers led by Julius Erving or the Larry Bird-led Celtics. He left the Bucks in 1987. Nelson had little playoff success in his following 2 jobs with the Warriors and the Knicks and eventually took over the Mavericks in 1997.
The Mavs had been a laughing stock in the NBA for much of the decade. In 3 seasons, Nelson turned them into one of the best teams in the league. He led the Mavs to a league-best 60 wins in 2002-03 but lost in the Conference Finals to the San Antonio Spurs. That was pretty much it for Nelson in terms of playoff success. He would only get past the 1st round once for the rest of his career in Dallas and Golden State.
The knock on Nelson has been that he never reached the NBA Finals and wasn't too keen to change his style. Nelson favored an uptempo offense, the insistence on which was why he had to quit the Knicks job. He did, however, pioneer the concepts which the Warriors use now, including small-ball, point forward and jacking up 3s.
#1 Jerry Sloan
Record: Regular Season 1221-803 (.603), Playoffs: 98-104 (.485)
Jerry Sloan coached in the NBA for 26 seasons, 23 of them for the Utah Jazz. He is one of 4 coaches to have a winning record for 15 consecutive seasons. He only missed the playoffs on 4 occasions.
Sloan began his coaching career with the Bulls in 1979 but was fired midway through his 3rd season. He would take over as Head Coach of the Jazz in 1988. With Hall of Famers Karl Malone and John Stockton in tow, the Jazz were a perennial playoff team. After losing in the Conference Finals thrice in a 5-year stretch, the Jazz had their best season in 1996-97, winning 64 games. But they lost to a Bulls team which won 69 games that season in the NBA Finals. They won 62 games next year but still lost in 6 games to the Bulls in the Finals. Sloan didn't enjoy much playoff success after that, but did reach the Conference Finals in 2007 and lost to the Spurs. He resigned in 2011 amid rumors of discontent between him and some players.
Sloan's teams ran the heck out of the pick and roll and were known for a team-oriented approach involving sharing the basketball, often ranking high in assists. Like many of the great players and 2 other coaches on this list, he has Jordan and the Bulls to thank for not winning a title.
