5 NBA coaches with worst regular season record ever ft. Brian Winters & more
When it comes to NBA coaches with the worst regular season record, Monty Williams is getting close. The Pistons are 2-27 in the 2023-24 regular season.
Under Williams, the Pistons have lost 26 consecutive games. This is the longest losing streak by an NBA team in a single season. They have matched the league record which was held by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2010–11 season.
While Williams still has a big part of the season left to improve the record, there have been coaches in NBA history who have awful season records.
Among coaches who have coached at least 82 games, here are the worst five in NBA history.
5 NBA coaches with worst regular season record
#5 Gar Heard
Gar Heard holds the fifth-worst coaching record in the NBA in terms of winning. Heard coached the Dallas Mavericks and the Washington Wizards.
The Georgia-born coach coached a total of 97 games in the league. Of those 97 games, he won only 23 while losing 74, having a winning percentage of .237.
He was the coach for the Mavericks during the 1992-93 season and for the Wizards during the 1999-2000 season.
#4 Leonard Hamilton
Leonard Hamilton is at the fourth spot in the worst coaching record in the NBA regular season history. He coached only one season for the Washington Wizards.
The North Carolina-born coached a total of 82 games. Of those, he won only 19 and lost the rest of the 63 games with a winning percentage of .232.
He coached the Washington Wizards in the 2000-2001 season. However, after his NBA coaching career, he found success at the collegiate level for Florida State in the ACC.
#3 Dick Harter
Dick Harter holds the third spot in the worst coaching record in the NBA. He worked as a coach in the league from 1983 to 2010. Harter held multiple assistant coaching positions and was also the head coach of the Charlotte Bobcats. In fact, he was the first head coach of the franchise.
Harter held assistant coaching positions for the Indiana Pacers, Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Portland Trail Blazers and Philadelphia 76ers.
As a head coach, he played 122 regular season games, of which he won only 28 and lost 94. He had a winning percentage of only .230. He coached the Bobcats from 1988 to 1990.
#2 Brian Winters
Brian Winters holds the second position in the worst coaching record in NBA history. He coached the Denver Nuggets for one season and never coached in the league again.
In his coaching career, Winters coached 184 games for the Vancouver Grizzlies, which became the Memphis Grizzlies after relocation, and also the Golden State Warriors.
Of the 184 games he coached in the league, Winters only won 36 and lost 148, with a winning percentage of .196. He coached the Grizzlies from 1995 to 1997 and the Warriors from 2001 to 2002.
#1 Bill Hanzlik
Bill Hanzlik is at the top spot in the worst coaching record in NBA history. He coached the Denver Nuggets for one season and led the Nuggets to the third-worst regular season in league history.
Hanzlik coached the Nuggets for the full 1997-98 season and had a record of 11-71. He had a winning percentage of .134. Hanzlik was also a former Denver Nuggets player who played from 1982 to 1990.