Top 5 coaches in the history of the LA Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers is one of two NBA teams tied for the most championship titles in the league's history. The Lakers, along with the Boston Celtics, both have a combined number of 34 titles (17 each) of a total of 74 championships. The Lakers are favorites to win the 2021-22 NBA championship and possibly edge out the Celtics as the team with the most championship titles, with their super team containing LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the newly acquired Russell Westbrook.
The @Lakers and @celtics: 17 titles each 🏆
All other playoff teams combined: 13 😳 https://t.co/RQzBrsK4PU
The LA Lakers' 17 championships titles can be accredited to six coaches in all 74 seasons they have featured in the NBA. These coaches are part and parcel of the great history that exists within the Lakers organization. Let's talk about the top five coaches in the history of the franchise.
Los Angeles Lakers top five all-time best coaches
#5 Frank Vogel
Frank Vogel made his way to the LA Lakers as head coach in the 2019-20 NBA season after spending six seasons coaching the Indiana Pacers and two seasons with the Orlando Magic. He had earlier been the assistant coach to Jim O'Brien of the Boston Celtics in 2001-2004, before joining the Philadelphia 76ers for a year and making his way to the Pacers.
In 2007, Jim O'Brien was made the head coach of the Pacers and he called his right-hand man, Vogel. Vogel spent three seasons as the assistant coach of the Pacers before he was upgraded to the head coach position in the 2010-2011 NBA season.
.@OrlandoMagic Head Coach Frank Vogel has had quite the coaching journey. 2 decades of great work ethic helped him to earn his title of head coach!
Read about Frank Vogel's road to becoming a head coach:
ow.ly/AOXQ30gUcJc https://t.co/12jjI5DZOB
In his debut season as the LA Lakers head coach, he finished 1st in the Pacific Division and the Western Conference with a 52-19 record, then went on to win the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat (4-2). His second season was met with some bad luck as he placed third in the Pacific Division, 7th in the Western Conference with a 42-30 record and crashed out of the 1st round of the Playoffs. He could win his second title with the franchise in the coming season as the Lakers are one of the favorites to clinch the title.
#4 Bill Sharman
Bill Sharman started off his coaching career in the NBA as the head coach of the then San Francisco Warriors (now known as the Golden State Warriors). After two seasons with the Warriors and a few years in the ABA, he made his way to the LA Lakers in 1971. Sharman spent most of his coaching career with the Lakers (six seasons).
Sharman won the LA Lakers' sixth championship title in the 1971-72 NBA season after a 17-year drought. It is imperative to note that this was his first season with the team, having just taken over from Joe Mullaney. He finished 1st in the NBA Pacific Division and Western Conference, then defeated the New York Knicks with a 4-1 victory. He still holds the record of having the best record in franchise history, 69-13.
His remaining seasons with the team weren't as successful as when he won the Western Conference, took the team to the finals the following season but suffered a defeat to the Knicks and he never made it that far for the entirety of his time with the LA Lakers. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 1976 and a coach in 2004.