Ranking Every NBA Coach from Worst to First

In sports, it seems that the first one to blame for a team's struggles always lands on the head coach and the organization before the players.

This is true because fans want to point out a scapegoat other than the favorite players on their roster, and mostly because it's easy to find a replacement for a coach rather than an entire roster that sometimes needs to be overhauled for a team to find actual consistent success.

While the players usually have the greatest say in the success of their team, the head coach can also be the key reason as to why a team does find immediate success. The leadership and the emotion that they emit could greatly influence the direction of their squad, while other coaches could possibly do the opposite if their team doesn't believe in them.

With not much else to rank with this lockout persisting, with hopes that it might come to an end soon, we decided to rank the 30 NBA head coaches from worst to last.

The list got a lot more interesting once the Los Angeles Lakers former head coach Phil Jackson retired.

30. Golden State Warriors: Mark Jackson

Entering his first year of coaching, Mark Jackson has a lot on his plate when leading the up and coming Golden State Warriors.

There isn't much to say about Jackson since he has no prior coaching experience, but we should be see a larger emphasis on defense for the Warriors if Mark follows through on his "Hand down, man down" theory.

29. Utah Jazz: Tyrone Corbin

A former NBA journeyman who played in the league from 1985 until 2001, Tyrone Corbin will be entering his first full year of coaching as Jerry Sloan's successor.

Corbin spent the past seven years under the future Hall of Famer as an assistant coach for the Jazz and finished off last year after Sloan's untimely departure. Despite being under the tutelage of one of the greatest coaching minds in NBA history, Corbin struggled by losing 22 of the 30 games that he coached.

He has a tough road ahead of him with the Jazz losing Deron Williams, but he does inherit a team with one of the strongest front courts, the best center in last year's draft in Enes Kanter and a supreme athlete in Derrick Favors.

28. Toronto Raptors: Dwane Casey

Spending the first nine years of his coaching career as an assistant on the Seattle Supersonics, current Toronto Raptors coach Dwane Casey landed his first coaching job during a brief stint with the Minnesota Timberwolves between 2005 and 2007.

Casey inherited a team led by Kevin Garnett, but the results weren't up to standards, and it led to his firing after going 53-69 during his tenure with the Wolves.

Since 2008, he has served as an assistant to the Dallas Mavericks and will be entering his second coaching stint with the Raptors whenever the season starts.

27. Houston Rockets: Kevin McHale

Complete with only one full season of coaching under his belt, Kevin McHale has a lot on his plate with a Houston Rockets team that is looking for a leader.

The Rockets organization are taking a huge risk with McHale, who compiled a 39-55 record with the Minnesota Timberwolves with a 19-12 record after finishing out the 2004-'05 season once Flip Saunders was fired.

McHale then struggled in the 2008-'09 season and would not return next year. He will now be entering his third coaching stint, this time as the leader for the Rockets. He has a lot of past demons to escape after his tragic run in the front office with the Wolves and will be expected to make the Rockets a postseason team once again.

26. Charlotte Bobcats: Paul Silas

Every time I look at the Charlotte Bobcats head coach Paul Silas, I immediately think of the Washington Generals head coach for some reason.

A head coach since 1980, Silas has accumulated a 380-429 record with teams that include the San Diego Clippers, Charlotte Hornets and the Cleveland Cavaliers before finally settling down with the Bobcats after the departure of Larry Brown.

In the short time that Silas spent with the 'Cats, it seems as if they played with a sense of identity and direction that not many have seen before. They went 25-29 once Silas took over, and it also appears that the Bobcats are playing with some sort of offensive rhythm that goes completely against the style Larry Brown had taught them.

25. New Orleans Hornets: Monty Williams

An NBA player from 1994 until 2003 and an assistant for Portland Trail Blazers head coach Nate McMillan since 2005, Monty Williams got the New Orleans Hornets head coaching job once Byron Scott was let go.

Williams has fared 46-36 since joining the Hornets and will be entering the most tumultuous season of his coaching career if there is a 2011-12 season. With Chris Paul possibly testing free agency in the next off season, it's going to be up to Williams to keep this team together and on the right course while the head office looks to add some pieces to keep Paul around.

Williams has two years left on his deal, and he's going to have to make a lot of miracles happen if he wants to get that extension.

24. Indiana Pacers: Frank Vogel

No interim head coach last season showed more resilience and potential than current Indiana Pacers head coach Frank Vogel.

After Jim O'Brien proved to be a lame duck coach, the 38-year-old Vogel took over and gave this Pacers team an identity by leading them to a 20-18 record that came complete with an eighth seed and a rare win over the Chicago Bulls in the first round.

Aside from Game 5, the Pacers had a chance to win in just about every game.

Vogel is the youngest head coach in the NBA and will have a chance to prove just how quality of a leader he can be with a team that's struggling to make a significant name for itself.

23. Atlanta Hawks: Larry Drew

A moderately successful season for the first-year coach, Larry Drew finished 44-38 after replacing the fired Mike Woodson.

The regular season wasn't all that impressive, but his Hawks managed to do some damage in the postseason, with a first round upset win over the rival Orlando Magic. Drew allowed the Magic's Dwight Howard to get whatever he wanted in the paint, but focused more on the the team's three-point shooters who shot the worst percentage from deep out of any playoff team.

Even with the upset, the Hawks organization are going to look towards Drew for more than another second round exit.

22. Detroit Pistons: Lawrence Frank

After setting the NBA, and all-time sports, record for most consecutive wins by a first time head coach with 13, Lawrence Frank hasn't done much since then to capitalize off of the early success.

Even with the 13-0 start, Frank's current records stands at 225-241, and he was fired from the New Jersey Nets after going in the complete opposite direction in the 2009-10 season, when they started off the season 0-18, in which Frank was around for 16 of them.

Since getting fired from the Nets, he has worked as an assistant coach for Doc Rivers and the Boston Celtics.

Taking over the Detroit Pistons will be quite the endeavor for Frank, who is only a few years removed from leading a team into the worst start in its history.

21. Los Angeles Clippers: Vinny Del Negro

Going into his second year with the up and coming Los Angeles Clippers, Vinny Del Negro is one of the first competent coaches that the organization has picked up in some time.

I know 32-50 doesn't sound like much, but it is on an extremely raw team with a number of young athletes in the starting lineup. Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and Eric Gordon will be leading this team next season on a possible trip to the postseason if Coach Del Negro can corral these players into a single unit that could make a post season push.

Del Negro's track record includes two seasons with the Chicago Bulls, where he finished .500 in both years.

20. Phoenix Suns: Alvin Gentry

Absolving coaching duties since 1995 when he was the interim head coach for the Miami Heat, Alvin Gentry is attempting to bring about a new look Phoenix Suns team.

A Phoenix Suns team that doesn't lose, that is. Gentry has compiled a 112-83 record since joining the team in Februrary of 2009 and missed the postseason for the first time last year due to the loss of Amar'e Stoudemire.

The Suns made it to the Western Conference Finals in his first year, but it appears that the postseason could be out of reach for years to come with the age of Steve Nash and the lack of a scorer to replace Stoudemire. Gentry is going to have to persuade the front office into making some moves so that they could possibly make one more legitimate postseason run before Nash's career comes to a disappointing end with no title.

19. Sacramento Kings: Paul Westphal

He's been 49-115 since joining the Sacramento Kings in the summer of 2009, but don't judge Paul Westphal's track record on a team that's had absolutely no veteran leadership and has basically been depending on rookies since he arrived.

Prior to joining the Kings, though, Westphal was the coach of one of the greatest Phoenix Suns teams when he led the team to the NBA Finals in 1993 before bowing out in six games to the powerhouse Chicago Bulls.

The Suns would make it to the postseason in every year with Westphal leading the way, but with no Finals appearances following 1993, the Suns ended up letting him go. Westphal would then coach the Seattle Sonics for two disappointing seasons before getting fired.

18. Philadelphia 76ers: Doug Collins

Doug Collins might have openly admitted that the Miami Heat are clearly the better team when they faced off against his Philadelphia 76ers, but in no way does this mean that Collins doesn't believe in his franchise.

In his first year with the team, Collins completely transformed the outlook of this Sixers team from an obscure 30-win team to a .500 team that can compete in the postseason. The 76ers went 41-41 in Collins' first year, and it makes it all the more impressive considering that the team started out a disappointing 3-13.

Collins' track record includes leading a young Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls from 1986 to 1989, Grant Hill and the Detroit Pistons from 1995 to 1998 and his last venture before joining the Sixers with a short stint with the Washington Wizards.

Collins compiled a record better than .500 with those three teams.

17. Memphis Grizzlies: Lionel Hollins

It's been quite the interesting career for current Memphis Grizzlies head coach Lionel Hollins after serving as an assistant coach for Paul Westphal on the Phoenix Suns.

After going 18-42 as the interim head coach for the Vancouver Grizzlies in the 1999-'00 season, Hollins was let go and would coach the Las Vegas Silver Bandits of the IBL before coaching the St. Louis Skyhawks of the USBL. He coached both teams between 2000 and 2002 and wouldn't receive another coaching job until 2004, when he took over as interim head coach once again for the Grizzlies.

Hollins would take in 2009 on a permanent basis and will most likely receive an extension after leading the Grizzlies to their first postseason series win in franchise history.

16. Cleveland Cavaliers: Byron Scott

19-63 isn't the greatest first season, but could you really blame Byron Scott for the Cleveland Cavaliers' horrible record? They had just lost their superstar in LeBron James and were basically left with the remnants of a team that had no leader where a 34-year-old Antawn Jamison was leading the way.

In fact, Scott was very critical of his team throughout the season, questioning the team's heart and desire to win games. It shows a lot to your team when you have a coach that believes and only wants the best for your team, and it's an ideal situation for a Cavaliers team that is still hurting.

Scott has compiled a 371-418 record with the Cavaliers, New Jersey Nets and New Orleans Hornets with two Finals appearances for the Nets and a Southwest Division title for the Hornets to show for it.

15. Orlando Magic: Stan Van Gundy

The so called "Master of Panic," Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy hasn't done much for the team other than lead them to their second Finals appearance in franchise history as well as consistently making the postseason since he joined the team in 2007.

The problem with Van Gundy is that his team's style of offense will never work in a championship setting. With Dwight Howard on the squad, the ball should run through him rather than the plethora of three-point shooters that take upwards of 30 shots from beyond the arc per night.

Van Gundy coached the Miami Heat from 2003 until 2006 and led the team to the Conference Finals in 2005 before "family issues" caused him to step down early on in the 2005-06 season.

14. Los Angeles Lakers: Mike Brown

This should be fun. Mike Brown is going to have his hands full filling in the shoes of legendary head coach Phil Jackson while also attempting to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a few more championship runs before the eventual downfall of Kobe Bryant.

Prior to joining the Lakers organization, Brown and his under bite had led the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers from 2005 until his eventual firing in 2010. Brown took the position after three separate assistant coach stints with the Washington Wizards, San Antonio Spurs and Indiana Pacers.

Brown compiled a 272-138 record with the Cavs, but it was all for naught, as the team had a grand total of zero NBA Finals wins. The Cavaliers were consistently the best team in the Eastern Conference during the regular season, but they would constantly falter in the post season because of the geocentric theory of basketball that revolved strictly around James.

That can't happen with Bryant and the Lakers. Brown's going to have to make the Lakers play basketball in a way he's not accustomed to: as a team.

13. New Jersey Nets: Avery Johnson

It's strange how one player could affect the outcome of a coach's career.

With his team up 2-0 in the 2006 NBA Finals, the Dallas Mavericks appeared well on their way to a championship win. It was at that point that Dwyane Wade took over the series and denied Avery Johnson and the Mavericks their first title.

With no championship and a few more disappointing postseason runs, Johnson was out by 2008 after getting eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for the second consecutive year.

Johnson now takes over a new look New Jersey (Brooklyn?) Nets team that comes complete with All-Star point guard Deron Williams and a solid scoring center in Brook Lopez. Johnson has had a great deal of regular season success with the Mavericks, and he's looking to transition that to the Nets, except with postseason success to add.

12. Milwaukee Bucks: Scott Skiles

One of the best defensive-minded head coaches in the NBA, current Milwaukee Bucks head coach Scott Skiles will attempt to lead the team back to the postseason and is also hoping to restore the "Fear the Deer" mentality that got the Bucks to the 2010 postseason in the first place.

Skiles is mostly famous for setting the single game record for assists with 30, but has also been a solid coach since 1996, when he coached a team based in Greece called PAOK Thessaloniki.

The new environment didn't work out for Skiles, and he took his talents back to the NBA, where he would go on to coach the Phoenix Suns from 1999 until 2002. They would make the postseason in two of the three years he was there.

Skiles then coached the young Chicago Bulls from 2003 until 2007 and implemented a strong defensive stand from each player on the roster. Unfortunately, the Bulls didn't get further than the second round, and he was let go after starting out the 2007-08 season with a 9-16 record.

11. Miami Heat: Erik Spoelstra

It's time to lay off Erik Spoelstra and start giving some credit to a third-year coach that was given the arduous task of taking on the egos of Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh.

A 58-24 record after a 9-8 start and rumors of getting fired throughout the season? Sounds like a success to me.

After Pat Riley stepped down as head coach in April of 2008, Spoelstra took over a team that was desperate for a new look and complete with an injured Dwyane Wade. Once Wade returned, however, Spoelstra would lead the Heat to a 43-39 record and a No. 5 seed before losing in seven games in the first round.

Spoelstra would then continue leading a team composed of Wade and a bunch of rookies and aged veterans to an impressive 47 wins the next year before running into the Boston Celtics buzzsaw that would go on to make it all the way to the Finals.

With firm belief in him by Riley, Spoelstra can expect a few more years in him and possibly a few championships.

10. Washington Wizards: Flip Saunders

An NBA coach since 1995, Flip Saunders has led a number of top tier teams to levels that they haven't reached since his departure.

He started off with the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he would take a young man just out of high school named Kevin Garnett under his wing. Saunders would lead the Wolves to their first ever postseason appearance in his second season and would go on to lead the team to their first Western Conference Finals appearance in 2004.

Saunders was fired midway through the 2004-05 season and would go on to join the powerhouse Detroit Pistons. After coming up short the year before with a seven-game series loss to the San Antonio Spurs in the year before Saunders arrived, he would go on to lead the team to a franchise best 64-18 record before bowing out in the Conference Finals.

The Pistons would continue to be atop the East before Saunders was fired in 2008. He has compiled a 49-115 record since joining the Wizards, but he's soon to lead an extremely athletic team with postseason dreams on their mind.

9. New York Knicks: Mike D'Antoni

Transitioning that frantic style of offense from Phoenix Suns to the New York Knicks, Mike D'Antoni recently led the team to their postseason appearance in over a decade.

D'Antoni started his career in Italy with three different teams and would lead two of those teams to Italian League titles, as well as a Korac Cup and the Cup of Italy. He spent time overseas from 1990 to 1997 before a disappointing stint with the Denver Nuggets. He would then head over one more time and would coach Benetton Treviso to the Euroleague Final Four.

He would then coach the Suns from 2003 until 2008 and would lead the team to their best seasons since the early 1990's. With Steve Nash added to the team, D'Antoni's offensive style was perfect for a team that was littered with offensive minded players that had a weak mindset when it came to defense. The Suns would win 50 plus games for four consecutive seasons and would win over 60 games twice.

D'Antoni now takes on a huge challenge, where he will be attempting to integrate Carmelo Anthony into an offense that's already centered around Amar'e Stoudemire. Turning two players that focus solely on offense into players that can co-exist will be quite the ordeal for D'Antoni, who now accepts a new challenge.

8. Chicago Bulls: Tom Thibodeau

Not bad for a first year coach. In his rookie season, Tom Thibodeau led the Chicago Bulls to a 62-20 record, the No. 1 seed in the East, the best record in the NBA overall and their first Conference Finals appearance since 1998 while earning a deserved Coach of the Year award.

Thibodeau tied the record for most wins by a rookie a head coach.

Prior to joining the Bulls, Thibodeau has been the assistant head coach for six teams since 1989, with his most recent stint coming with the Boston Celtics, where he was a member of the 2008 championship squad. It seems that all that tutelage paid off, as Thibodeau completely turned the look of this Bulls team around that is now equipped with an MVP and championship dreams.

Thibodeau's strong suit was clearly his defense, as he enforced each player into putting in a full out effort every time the team was on the defensive end of the floor.

7. Portland Trail Blazers: Nate McMillan

Coaching since 2000, when he led the Seattle Supersonics for five years, Nate McMillan has since become the new leader of a Portland Trail Blazers team that is well on its way to shortly becoming a championship contender

McMillan spent five years with the team he played with for 12 years, but they were uneventful, as the team only made it to the postseason on two occasions with three mediocre years tied in. Before he left, though, he did manage to lead the Sonics to a 52-30 record, the second round of the playoffs and their first Northwest division title since 1998.

He was fired following that season and would then join a struggling Trail Blazers team that was riddled with internal struggles. It was no matter to McMillan, as he has now led the team to three consecutive playoff appearances after the team missed five it five years in a row.

With LaMarcus Aldridge assuming control alongside athletic swingman Gerald Wallace and up and coming shooting guard Wesley Matthews, McMillan could be leading a strong Blazers team deep into the postseason very soon.

6. Oklahoma City Thunder: Scott Brooks

Sometimes, a coaching change is all that really matters to a team that's desperate for victories.

After P.J. Carlesimo led the Oklahoma City Thunder to a dismal start during their first year in a new location, the coaching position was then given to young Scott Brooks, who had no prior head coaching experience. He would get hired in the 2008-09 season and would greatly help the improvement of a young Thunder team led by a pure scorer in Kevin Durant.

The following season, Brooks would win Coach of the Year after leading the Thunder to 50 wins and an eighth seed that came complete with taking the eventual NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers to six games in the first round. The Thunder would win 55 games this most recent year, with Brooks leading the team to their first Western Conference Finals in over a decade.

To say that Brooks has been impressive since assuming the coaching position of the Thunder would be an understatement. He has greatly improved the outlook of this franchise and has turned an extremely young team into a championship contender.

5. Boston Celtics: Doc Rivers

While many will claim that Doc Rivers only saw this much success thanks to the Boston Celtics acquiring Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to play alongside Paul Pierce, I will say that they are halfway right, because it definitely helps that the team combined those three forces.

However, it takes a strong leader to corral all of these players, and it helped the Celtics that they had that leader in Rivers to lead the way.

Rivers has compiled a 336-238 record since joining the Celtics in 2004 and helped lead the team to their first championship in over two decades, when the Big Three won the 2008 title in their first year playing together.

Prior to joining the Celtics, Rivers was the head coach of the Orlando Magic from 1999 until 2004, where he would win the 2000 Coach of the Year after nearly leading to the postseason despite being picked by many to finish last.

4. Minnesota Timberwolves: Rick Adelman

This is just what the Minnesota Timberwolves needed. Rather than having another lame duck coach to lead this team looking to final get out of the NBA basement, the Wolves have hired their first competent coach in awhile by selecting veteran head coach Rick Adelman.

Adelman has been a head coach since 1988 and has coached some of the best teams during that span, including the Clyde Drexler-led Portland Trail Blazers that made it to two NBA Finals in the six seasons he spent there, as well as the Sacramento Kings from 1999 to 2006, where he would lead the team to their deepest post season runs in franchise history.

Since leaving the Kings, Adelman has been coaching the Houston Rockets since 2007 and helped the team to two 50-plus win seasons and a visit to the second round.

The Wolves are a perfect situation for Adelman, who is looking forward to the challenge that is leading the Minnesota Timberwolves out of obscurity.

3. Dallas Mavericks: Rick Carlisle

The most recent head coach to win an NBA championship as well as the 2002 Coach of the Year, Rick Carlisle has greatly helped three teams to improvement in key areas.

Carlisle started out his head coaching career with the Detroit Pistons in 2001 and would immediately lead the squad to two consecutive 50-win seasons that came complete with two Central Division championships.

Following the three-year stint with the Pistons, Carlisle would then head to Indiana, where he would lead the Pacers to some of their best seasons in franchise history. In only his first season with the team, he would lead the team to a 61-21 record and the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Pacers would make it all the way to the Conference Finals before falling to the team he just departed.

The next few years would be a confusing time for the Pacers, as injuries and suspensions stemming from the Malice at the Palace would impede the progress of his team.

Since 2008, Carlisle has coached the Mavericks and finally finished the deal that so many Mavericks coaches couldn't do before: play quality basketball in the regular season and postseason.

2. Denver Nuggets: George Karl

A coaching resume that has now spanned over three decades since starting out as coach of the Montana Golden Nuggets of the CBA, George Karl has done just about everything aside from winning an NBA championship.

It's not to say that Karl didn't get close, though. He led the Seattle Supersonics to the NBA Finals in 1996 and came up two games short against the 72-10 Chicago Bulls that were on a mission from God to win the championship that year. Karl would lead the Sonics to a 50-win season every year he coached from 1992 until his departure in 1998.

Karl would then coach the Milwaukee Bucks from 1998 to 2003 and would bring immediate success to a franchise that hadn't seen much since the 1980's. 2001 would be his best year, as he would lead the team to an improbable run that came within one game from an NBA Finals appearance and could have made it if not for some suspect officiating.

He would get fired after a few uneventful seasons and has been coaching the Denver Nuggets since. Among his achievements with the team include becoming the seventh coach in NBA history to win 1,000 games and leading the Nuggets to their first Conference Finals since 1985.

Karl now faces a dilemma with a Nuggets team that has no clear leader since the departure of Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups. Chances are high that Karl will be able to lead this team, as he done so over the past 30 years.

1. San Antonio Spurs: Gregg Popovich

By far the best coach in the league since the retirement of Phil Jackson, San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is a first ballot Hall of Fame coach that has given the team consistent success over the past decade.

Since beginning his coaching year in 1996, Popovich has only suffered one losing season, and that came in the year before Tim Duncan was drafted and when David Robinson spent the majority of the year on the bench injured. Popovich has since led the Spurs to at least 50 wins in every year from 1997 until 2011, aside from the lockout year, where they still won 37 of the 50 games they played in.

Popovich has emphasized the importance of playing fundamental basketball on both sides of the court, and it has paid off to the tune of four championships since 1999. The core he has created with Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker has been one of the most successful and consistent trios since the creation of the NBA, and it's thanks to the philosophy that Popovich has instilled in this team.

Stats and championships don't lie: Gregg Popovich is the best coach in the league and it's not even close.