List of Sacramento Kings head coaches

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The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team was founded as the Rochester Royals by Lester Harrison and his brother Jack Harrison in Rochester, New York in 1945. [1] The Royals won the National Basketball League (NBL) championship during their inaugural season by defeating the Sheboygan Red Skins 3–0. [1] In 1948, the team joined the Basketball Association of America (BAA), which merged with the NBL to become the NBA a year later. [2] The franchise won its first NBA championship in the 1951 NBA Finals under the coaching of Lester Harrison. [2] The Harrison brothers moved the team to Cincinnati, Ohio in 1957 due to poor attendance. [2] After spending 15 years in Cincinnati, the team was purchased by a group of businessmen from Kansas City, who moved the team to Kansas City and renamed it to the Kings in 1972. The team was briefly named the Kansas City-Omaha Kings from 1972 to 1975 when home games were split between two cities. In 1983, the franchise was bought by a Sacramento-based group, and in 1985, moved to Sacramento, becoming the Sacramento Kings. [2]

Contents

There have been 28  head coaches for the franchise since joining the NBA. Rick Adelman is the franchise's all-time leader in regular season games coached (624), regular season games won (395), playoff games coached (69), and playoff games won (34). Phil Johnson, Cotton Fitzsimmons, and Mike Brown have won NBA Coach of the Year with the Kings, in the 1974–75, 1978–79, and 2022–23 seasons respectively. [3] [4] [5] Harrison, Bobby Wanzer, Ed Jucker, Bob Cousy, Draff Young, Jerry Reynolds, Reggie Theus, and Kenny Natt have spent their entire NBA head coaching careers with the Kings. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] Wanzer, Tom Marshall, Jack McMahon, Cousy, Larry Staverman, Adelman and Theus formerly played for the Kings. [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] The Kings are currently owned by Vivek Ranadivé, with former Knicks General Manager Scott Perry as the general manager and Doug Christie as the head coach.

Key

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

Coaches

Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2024–25 season. The list does not include NBL seasons.

#NameTerm [b] GCWLWin%GCWLWin%AchievementsReference
Regular seasonPlayoffs
Les Harrison * 19481955 476296181.620381919.5001 Championship (1951) [20]
Bobby Wanzer * 19551957 (as player-coach)
19571958
23498126.418202.000 [6]
Tom Marshall 1958–1959 (as player-coach)
1959–1960
1293594.271 [21]
Charles Wolf 19601963 239118121.4941679.438 [22]
Jack McMahon 19631967 321187134.58323815.348 [23]
Ed Jucker * 19671969 1648084.488 [7]
Bob Cousy * 1969–1970 (as player-coach)
19701973
350141209.403 [8]
Draff Young * 1973 303.000 [9]
Phil Johnson 19731978 340155185.456624.333 1974–75 NBA Coach of the Year [3] [24]
Larry Staverman 1978 451827.400 [25]
Cotton Fitzsimmons 19781984 492248244.50426917.346 1978–79 NBA Coach of the Year [3] [26]
Jack McKinney 1984 918.111 [27]
Phil Johnson 19841987 20181120.403303.000 [24]
Jerry Reynolds * 1987 602238.367 [10]
Bill Russell 1987–1988 581741.293 [28]
Jerry Reynolds * 19881990 1103476.309 [10]
Dick Motta 19901991 16148113.298 [29]
Rex Hughes 1991–1992 572235.386 [30]
Garry St. Jean 19921997 395159236.403413.250 [31]
Eddie Jordan 19971998 973364.340 [32]
Rick Adelman 19982006 624395229.633693435.493 [33]
Eric Musselman 2006–2007 823349.402 [34]
Reggie Theus * 20072008 1064462.415 [11]
Kenny Natt * 2008–2009 581147.190 [35]
Paul Westphal 20092012 17151120.298 [36]
Keith Smart 20122013 1414893.340 [37]
Michael Malone 20132014 1063967.368 [38]
Tyrone Corbin 2014–2015 28721.250 [39]
George Karl 20152016 1124468.393 [40]
Dave Joerger 20162019 24698148.398 [41]
Luke Walton 20192021 1616893.422 [42]
Alvin Gentry 2021–2022 652441.369
Mike Brown 20222024 19510788.549734.429 2022–23 NBA Coach of the Year [5]
Doug Christie 2024–present512724.529000

Notes

References

General
Specific
  1. 1 2 Cook, Kevin. "The Rochester Royals: The Story of Professional Basketball" (PDF). www.rochester.lib.ny.us. Rochester Public Library. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 20, 2009. Retrieved November 21, 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Sacramento Kings History". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on January 8, 2010. Retrieved November 21, 2008.
  3. 1 2 3 "Coach of the Year". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on September 15, 2010. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
  4. "Sacramento Kings Media Guides 2008-09 p.348" (PDF). NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 26, 2008. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
  5. 1 2 "Kings coach Mike Brown named NBCA Coach of the Year". NBA.com. Retrieved 2023-04-14.
  6. 1 2 "Bobby Wanzer Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
  7. 1 2 "Ed Jucker Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
  8. 1 2 "Bob Cousy Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
  9. 1 2 "Draff Young Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
  10. 1 2 3 "Jerry Reynolds Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
  11. 1 2 "Reggie Theus Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
  12. "Kings fire coach Theus". ESPN.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. 15 December 2008. Retrieved December 15, 2008.
  13. "Bobby Wanzer Playing Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
  14. "Tom Marshall Playing Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
  15. "Jack McMahon Playing Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
  16. "Bob Cousy Playing Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
  17. "Larry Staverman Playing Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
  18. "Rick Adelman Playing Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
  19. "Reggie Theus Playing Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
  20. "Lester Harrison Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
  21. "Tom Marshall Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
  22. "Charles Wolf Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
  23. "Jack McMahon Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
  24. 1 2 "Phil Johnson Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
  25. "Larry Staverman Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
  26. "Cotton Fitzsimmons Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
  27. "Jack McKinney Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
  28. "Bill Russell Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
  29. "Dick Motta Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
  30. "Rex Hughes Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
  31. "Garry St. Jean Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
  32. "Eddie Jordan Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
  33. "Rick Adelman Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 18, 2008.
  34. "Eric Musselman Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 20, 2008.
  35. "Kenny Natt Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 28, 2010.
  36. "Paul Westphal Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 8, 2012.
  37. "Keith Smart Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 18, 2012.
  38. "Mike Malone Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  39. "Tyrone Corbin Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  40. "George Karl Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  41. "Dave Joerger Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
  42. "Luke Walton Coaching Record". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 22, 2021.