List of Washington Wizards head coaches

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The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. They are a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team plays its home games at the Capital One Arena (formerly the MCI Center and the Verizon Center). The franchise was established in Chicago, Illinois as the Chicago Packers in 1961; after one season, its name was changed to the Chicago Zephyrs. In 1963, the franchise moved to Baltimore, Maryland and was renamed the Baltimore Bullets. It moved to Landover, Maryland in 1973 and changed its name to the Capital Bullets. After one season, the team became the Washington Bullets. In 1978, the Bullets won the 1978 NBA Finals in seven games for the franchise's only championship. In 1997, the team became the Washington Wizards, which is the team's current name. Since their formation, the Wizards have won six divisional championships, four conference championships, one league championship and have appeared in the playoffs twenty-three times. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

There have been 24  head coaches for the Wizards franchise. The franchise's first coach was Jim Pollard, who led the team for one season. [4] Dick Motta is the only Wizards coach to have led the team to a championship; the team won the 1978 NBA Finals as the Washington Bullets during his tenure. [5] Gene Shue is the only Wizards coach to have won the NBA Coach of the Year Award; he won it twice, in 1969 and 1982. [6] No Wizards coach has been elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach, but four have been elected into the Hall of Fame as a player: Jim Pollard, Buddy Jeannette, K. C. Jones and Wes Unseld. [4] [7] [8] [9] Shue is the franchise's all-time leader in regular-season games coached (1027) and wins (522); Jones is the franchise's all-time leader in regular-season winning percentage (.630). [8] Dick Motta is the franchise's all-time leader in playoff games coached (51) and wins (27), as well as playoff-game winning percentage (.529). [5] Five Wizards coaches have spent their entire NBA head coaching career with the team: Mike Farmer, Bob Staak, Jim Brovelli, Leonard Hamilton and Ed Tapscott. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] The team's current head coach is Brian Keefe.

Key

GCGames coached
WWins
LLosses
Win% Winning percentage
#Number of coaches [a]
*Spent entire NBA head coaching career with the Packers/Zephyrs/Bullets/Wizards

Coaches

#NameTerm [b] GCWLWin%GCWLWin%AchievementsReference
Regular seasonPlayoffs
Jim Pollard 1961–1962 801862.359 [4]
Jack McMahon 1962 381226.316 [15]
Bobby Leonard 19621964 (as player-coach)1224478.361 [16]
Buddy Jeannette 1964–1965 803743.4631055.500 [7]
Paul Seymour 1965–1966 803842.475303.000 [17]
Mike Farmer * 1966 (interim)918.111 [10]
Buddy Jeannette 1966 (interim)16313.188 [7]
Gene Shue 19661973 548291257.531401426.350 1968–69 NBA Coach of the Year [6] [18]
K. C. Jones 19731976 24615591.630311417.452 [8]
Dick Motta 19761980 328185143.564512724.529NBA Championship (1978) [19] [5]
Gene Shue 19801986 479231248.48215510.333 1981–82 NBA Coach of the Year [6] [18]
Kevin Loughery 19861988 1225765.467826.250 [20]
Wes Unseld 19881994 547202345.369523.400 [9]
Jim Lynam 19941997 21082128.390 [21]
Bob Staak * 1997 (interim)101.000 [11]
Bernie Bickerstaff 19971999 1497772.517303.000 [22]
Jim Brovelli * 1999 (interim)18513.278 [12]
Gar Heard 1999–2000 441430.318 [23]
Darrell Walker 2000 (interim)381523.395 [24]
Leonard Hamilton * 2000–2001 821963.232 [13]
Doug Collins 20012003 1647490.451 [25]
Eddie Jordan 20032008 421197224.46826818.308 [26]
Ed Tapscott * 2008–2009 (interim)711853.254 [14]
Flip Saunders 20092012 18151130.282 [27]
Randy Wittman 20122016 377178199.47221129.571 [28]
Scott Brooks 20162021 390183207.469241014.417 [29]
Wes Unseld Jr. * 20212024 20777130.372 [30]
Brian Keefe 2024–present39831.205

Notes

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The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at Capital One Arena, in the Chinatown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. an arena they share with the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Georgetown University men's basketball team. The team is owned by Ted Leonsis through Monumental Sports & Entertainment.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dick Motta</span> American former basketball coach (born 1931)

John Richard Motta is an American former basketball coach whose career in the National Basketball Association (NBA) spanned 25 years. Motta coached the Washington Bullets to the 1978 NBA Championship, and he won the 1971 NBA Coach of the Year Award with the Chicago Bulls. Motta is eighth all-time with 1,952 games as coach, while ranking 13th in wins and fourth in losses; he has the most wins of eligible coaches not currently inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. In 25 seasons as a coach, he reached the postseason fourteen times.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Lynam</span> American basketball coach

James Francis Lynam is an American former college and professional basketball coach. He coached at the college level for Fairfield University from 1968 to 1970, American University from 1973 to 1978, and St. Joseph's University from 1978 to 1981. In the National Basketball Association (NBA), Lynam coached the San Diego / Los Angeles Clippers from 1983 to 1985, the Philadelphia 76ers from 1987 to 1992, and the Washington Bullets from 1995 to 1997. Lynam compiled a 158–118 record at the college level, and 328–392 in the NBA. He was also Philadelphia's general manager from 1992 to 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Ferry</span> American basketball player and executive (1937–2021)

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The 1961 NBA expansion draft was the inaugural expansion draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 26, 1961, so that the newly founded Chicago Packers could acquire players for the upcoming 1961–62 season. The Packers were the second NBA team from Chicago, after the Chicago Stags, which folded in 1950. The Packers later underwent several name changes and relocations before moving to Washington, D.C.. They are currently known as the Washington Wizards. In an NBA expansion draft, new NBA teams are allowed to acquire players from the previously established teams in the league. Not all players on a given team are available during an expansion draft, since each team can protect a certain number of players from being selected.

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References

General
Specific
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  3. "Washington Wizards (1963-Present)". SportsEncyclopedia.com. MMVIII Tank Productions. Retrieved November 27, 2008.
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  12. 1 2 "Jim Brovelli Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
  13. 1 2 "Leonard Hamilton Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
  14. 1 2 "Ed Tapscott Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
  15. "Jack McMahon Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 25, 2008.
  16. "Slick Leonard Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 25, 2008.
  17. "Paul Seymour Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 25, 2008.
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  21. "Jim Lynam Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
  22. "Bernie Bickerstaff Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
  23. "Gar Heard Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
  24. "Darrell Walker Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
  25. "Doug Collins Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
  26. "Eddie Jordan Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
  27. "Flip Saunders Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 25, 2012.
  28. "Randy Wittman Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 18, 2012.
  29. "Scott Brooks Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 9, 2014. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  30. "Wes Unseld Jr. Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 25, 2024.