Top 10 NBA head coaches with the best win percentage
Ever since the beginning of the NBA, coaches have played an integral role in each championship-winning team. Often an overlooked art, coaching has proven to be the skill that elevates a good team to legendary status.
In this article, we take a look at the 10 NBA coaches with the best win percentages in league history.
Top 10 NBA head coaches with the best win percentages
We have seen NBA coaches turn a good team into a great team by making the right adjustments and bringing a system that works. The Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls could not get past the 'Bad Boy' Detroit Pistons in the late 1980s until Phil Jackson came in and changed its attacking system.
The same happened with the Kobe Bryant-Shaquille O'Neal LA Lakers until Jackson arrived. We saw something similar with the Golden State Warriors, which exploded once Steve Kerr arrived, inserted Draymond Green in the starting lineup and established a new offense.
Without further ado, let us take a look at the 10 NBA head coaches with the best win percentage in the regular season.
Note: Only coaches with 100 or more games have been considered.
#10 Ed Macauley
137 NBA games | 89-48 W-L record | .650 win percentage
Ed Macauley coached the St. Louis Hawks between 1958 and 1960 in 137 NBA games. He is a Hall of Fame player, who was still playing few games during his first year coaching.
Macauley replaced Andy Phillip after the team started the 1958-59 season with a 6-4 record. He coached them to a 43-19 record in the remaining games and earned an NBA Playoffs spot, but his team lost in the Western Division Finals to the Minneapolis Lakers in six games.
Behind Bob Pettit, the team again had a great season in the 1959-60 NBA season with Macauley as the head coach. They ran away with the Western Division's top seed in the regular season with a record of 46-29. Back then, the NBA had eight teams, divided into the Eastern and Western Divisions.
In the West NBA Playoffs, the Hawks beat the Lakers in seven games in the Western Finals to reach the NBA Finals, but Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics overcame them in seven games.
#9 Red Auerbach
1417 NBA games | 938-479 W-L record | .662 win percentage
The legendary Red Auerbach was not only a great NBA coach, but he was part of seven NBA championships as an executive for the Boston Celtics after winning nine NBA titles as a coach.
Auerbach was coaching since the 1946-47 BAA season, which was the first in history. At the time, Auerbach was coaching the Washington Capitols, and achieved a 115-53 regular-season record with the franchise in three years.
After a single-season with the Tri-Cities BlackHawks (and having his only losing season), Auerbach coached the Boston Celtics for 1192 games in 16 years. He had a 795-397 record in the regular season, winning nine NBA titles and making 10 NBA Finals appearances.
The NBA Coach of the Year Award winner of each year receives a Red Auerbach trophy.