5 active NBA head coaches with the best winning percentage heading into the 2021-22 NBA season
Optimizing individual talent and rosters is one of the most integral things a franchise should do to achieve good results in the NBA. While front offices are assigned the duty of assembling rosters, the fates of the players are in the hands of the coaching staff.
High-level NBA coaches are those who have shown the ability to improve and optimize rosters when they join an association. A coach's winning percentage is a fairly tell-tale indicator of their ability in the league. After all, the point of NBA basketball is to win games.
Here's a look at five active NBA coaches with the best regular-season win percentage heading into the 2021-22 season.
#5 - Nick Nurse (61.1%)
Before being promoted to head coach for the Toronto Raptors, Nick Nurse was an assistant at the franchise for five seasons. In his first year running the show, the Raptors added Kawhi Leonard to the squad and ended up winning 58 games en route to an NBA Championship.
The following season, the Toronto Raptors secured a 53-19 record in the bubble season. The outlier came in 2020-21 when the Raptors were more affected by COVID-19 protocols than any other NBA team after being forced to play their home games in Tampa Bay.
Rather than performing in front of their own fan base and training in familiar practice facilities, they were practically always on the road.
Nurse's 27-45 record for the season looks abysmal on the surface, but context is crucial. Despite being an outlier this past season, his 61.1% win percentage is undoubtedly impressive.
#4 - Tyronn Lue (61.8%)
Like Nick Nurse, Tyronn Lue managed to win the elusive NBA Championship in just his first season as the head of a coaching staff (which he joined halfway through).
The Cleveland Cavaliers, with LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, conquered the 73-9 Golden State Warriors in the 2015-16 season. In the two subsequent seasons, similar Cavaliers rosters secured the title of NBA Eastern Conference champion.
After the dismantling of those legendary squads, Lue made his way to the LA Clippers as an assistant in 2019-20. Doc Rivers had some concerns, and Lue would step into the head coaching role a year later, which concluded with a 47-25 record. He will be presented with a unique challenge this season with superstar Kawhi Leonard sidelined.