5 Shortest Coaching Stints in NBA History

This summer has been one where the winds of change in the league have been gusting with more force than ever. The Detroit Pistons, the Toronto Raptors, the Orlando Magic, the New York Knicks, the Milwaukee Bucks, the Charlotte Hornets, the Phoenix Suns and the Atlanta Hawks are all ushering in new head coaches in the wake of disappointing 2017-18 campaigns.

That's almost quarter of the league which is in the hands of brand new coaches now. More heads could roll next season as teams try and find the perfect combination to take the double-defending champion Golden State Warriors in the shortest timeline possible.

This prompted us to take a look at the shortest head coaching tenures in NBA history, and we came up with the following list:

#5 Maurice Cheeks with the Detroit Pistons (50 games)

Mo Cheeks was put in charge of the Detroit Pistons as Joe Dumars' final head coaching hire - after the 2012-13 NBA season had ended. He was charged with the unenviable task of accommodating Josh Smith, Brandon Jennings, Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond in the same starting lineup.

None of these 4 players were capable of shooting consistently from the perimeter, and as a result, the Pistons' driving lane resembled a traffic jam more than anything else. Through 50 games of the 2013-14 season, the Pistons had a dismal 21-29 record - more due to Dumars' incompetence in the front office than Cheeks' own faults.

But it was the latter who paid the price for the underperforming team, as they failed to make the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season. Dumars himself stepped down as the team's President of Basketball Operations at the end of the season.