List of Oklahoma City Thunder head coaches

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The Oklahoma City Thunder plays at the Paycom Center, since 2008. Paycom Center, Oklahoma City (Sep. 2021).jpg
The Oklahoma City Thunder plays at the Paycom Center, since 2008.

The Oklahoma City Thunder is an American professional basketball franchise based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It plays in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). It was known as the Seattle SuperSonics from 1967 to 2008. The team plays its home games at the Paycom Center. [1] The Thunder is owned by Professional Basketball Club LLC with Sam Presti as its general manager. The team was formed in 1967. After spending 41 seasons in Seattle, Washington, the SuperSonics moved to Oklahoma City. Owner Clay Bennett, who purchased the team in 2006, sought to get public funding for a new arena in Seattle, or a major renovation of the KeyArena in 2007. After failing to do so, he decided to move the team to Oklahoma City. [2] Seattle sued Bennett's group to enforce the lease that required the team to stay until 2010. The two sides reached a $45 million settlement to pay off the team's lease with KeyArena in July 2008. [3] [4]

Contents

There have been 16  head coaches for the Thunder franchise. The franchise won its only NBA championship in the 1979 NBA Finals while coached by Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkens. Wilkens is the only member of the franchise to have been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach. [5] He is also the franchise's all-time leader in regular-season games coached, regular-season games won, playoff games coached, and playoff games won. Wilkens, Paul Westphal, Nate McMillan and Bob Weiss formerly played for the team in Seattle. [6] [7] [8] Former head coach Scott Brooks is the only coach to have won the NBA Coach of the Year Award with the franchise. [9]

Key

GCGames coached
WWins
LLosses
Win% Winning percentage
#Number of coaches
*Spent entire NBA head coaching career with the SuperSonics/Thunder
†Elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach

Coaches

Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2021–22 season.

#NameTermGCWLWin%GCWLWin%AchievementsReference
Regular seasonPlayoffs
Seattle SuperSonics
Al Bianchi 1967–1969 16453111.323000– [10]
Lenny Wilkens † 1969–1972 (as player-coach)246121125.492000–One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history [11] [5]
Tom Nissalke 1972 451332.289000– [12]
Bucky Buckwalter 1973 371324.351000– [13]
Bill Russell † 1973–1977 328162166.4941569.400 [14]
Bob Hopkins * 1977 22517.227000– [15]
Lenny Wilkens † 1977–1985 634357277.563693732.5361 NBA championship (1979)
One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history [11] 		[5]
Bernie Bickerstaff 1985–1990 410202208.493271215.444 [16]
K. C. Jones 1990–1991 1185959.500523.400 [17]
Bob Kloppenburg 1991 422.500000– [18]
George Karl † 1991–1998 534384150.719804040.500 [19]
Paul Westphal 1998–2000 1477671.517523.400 [20]
Nate McMillan 2000–2005 395212183.5371688.500 [21]
Bob Weiss 2005 301317.433000– [22]
Bob Hill 2006–2007 1345381.396000– [23]
P. J. Carlesimo 2007–2008 822062.244000– [24]
Oklahoma City Thunder
P. J. Carlesimo 2008 13112.077000– [24]
Scott Brooks 2008–2015 545338207.620733934.534 2009–10 NBA Coach of the Year [9] [25]
Billy Donovan 2015–2020 400243157.608411823.439 [26]
Mark Daigneault 2020–present23686150.364———–

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lenny Wilkens</span> American basketball player and coach

Leonard Randolph Wilkens is an American former basketball player and coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been inducted three times into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, first in 1989 as a player, as a coach in 1998, and in 2010 as part of the 1992 United States Olympic "Dream Team," for which he was an assistant coach. In 1996, Wilkens was named to the NBA 50th Anniversary Team, and in 2021 he was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. In addition, in 2022 he was also named to the list of the 15 Greatest Coaches in NBA History, being the only person to be in both NBA 75th season celebration list as player and coach. He is also a 2006 inductee into the College Basketball Hall of Fame.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seattle SuperSonics</span> American professional basketball team, 1967–2008

The Seattle SuperSonics were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Division (1967–1970), and later as a member of the Western Conference's Pacific (1970–2004) and Northwest (2004–2008) divisions. After the 2007–08 season ended, the team relocated to Oklahoma City, where they now play as the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The 1967 NBA expansion draft was the third expansion draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on May 1, 1967, so that the newly founded San Diego Rockets and Seattle SuperSonics could acquire players for the upcoming 1967–68 season. Seattle and San Diego had been awarded the expansion teams on December 20, 1966, and January 11, 1967, respectively. The Rockets moved to Houston, Texas, in 1971 and are currently known as the Houston Rockets. The SuperSonics moved to Oklahoma City, in 2008 and are currently known as the Oklahoma City Thunder. 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. The Rockets and the Sonics selected fifteen unprotected players each, while the ten other NBA teams lost three players each.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oklahoma City Thunder</span> National Basketball Association team in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. The team plays its home games at Paycom Center.

Professional Basketball Club LLC is an investment group headed by Clay Bennett that owns the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s Oklahoma City Thunder franchise and the Thunder's NBA G League affiliate Oklahoma City Blue. The group also owned the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)'s Seattle Storm franchise from 2006 to 2008. The PBC then sold the Storm to local Seattle owners, before relocating the SuperSonics to Oklahoma City.

The Oklahoma City Thunder is a professional American basketball franchise based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It plays in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The franchise was the Seattle SuperSonics from 1967 to 2008 until relocated to Oklahoma City. The team plays its home games at the Paycom Center. The Thunder is owned by Professional Basketball Club LLC and coached by Mark Daigneault, with Sam Presti as its General Manager. All records and achievements shown have been accomplished in Oklahoma City.

The 1971–72 Seattle SuperSonics season was the 5th season of the Seattle SuperSonics in the National Basketball Association (NBA). In their third season with Lenny Wilkens as head coach, the Sonics finished the regular season in sixth place in the Western Conference with a 47–35 record, their first winning record in franchise history. Wilkens quit as head coach at the end of the season and was replaced by former Dallas Chaparrals coach Tom Nissalke.

References

General
Specific
  1. ↑ "City Preparing Ford Center For NBA Team". KOCO Oklahoma City. Hearst Television Inc. July 3, 2008. Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved July 4, 2008.
  2. ↑ Johns, Greg (November 2, 2007). "Bennett says Sonics going to Oklahoma". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Hearst Seattle Media, LLC. Retrieved April 2, 2008.
  3. ↑ "SuperSonics, Seattle reach last-minute settlement". ESPN.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. July 3, 2008. Retrieved July 2, 2008.
  4. ↑ "Sonics, city reach settlement". The Seattle Times. July 2, 2008. Archived from the original on May 1, 2009. Retrieved July 2, 2008.
  5. 1 2 3 "Lenny Wilkens Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
  6. ↑ "Lenny Wilkens Playing Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 11, 2008.
  7. ↑ "Nate McMillan Playing Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 11, 2008.
  8. ↑ "Bob Weiss Playing Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 11, 2008.
  9. 1 2 "Coach of the Year". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on September 15, 2010. Retrieved April 26, 2010.
  10. ↑ "Al Bianchi Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
  11. 1 2 "Top 10 Coaches in NBA History". NBA.com. National Basketball Association. Archived from the original on January 19, 2010. Retrieved October 9, 2008.
  12. ↑ "Tom Nissalke Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
  13. ↑ "Bucky Buckwalter Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
  14. ↑ "Bill Russell Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
  15. ↑ "Bob Hopkins Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
  16. ↑ "Bernie Bickerstaff Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
  17. ↑ "K.C. Jones Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
  18. ↑ "Bob Kloppenburg Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
  19. ↑ "George Karl Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
  20. ↑ "Paul Westphal Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved July 26, 2008.
  21. ↑ "Nate McMillan Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on June 14, 2012. Retrieved July 26, 2008.
  22. ↑ "Bob Weiss Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved July 26, 2008.
  23. ↑ "Bob Hill Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved July 26, 2008.
  24. 1 2 "P.J. Carlesimo Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved July 26, 2008.
  25. ↑ "Scott Brooks Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on April 9, 2014. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
  26. ↑ "Billy Donovan Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved July 27, 2021.

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