Best NBA Coaches to Never Win an NBA Championship
An NBA championship, and an NBA championship ring, are the most sought after prizes by any NBA player. The pinnacle of basketball greatness, many NBA players and coaches play their entire basketball careers in the hopes of attaining one.
However, winning the NBA championship, and being awarded an NBA championship ring, is extremely difficult. Few players or coaches are able to secure either and many play their entire careers without ever making it to the NBA Finals.
Below, we are going to look at some of the best NBA coaches to never win an NBA championship. These coaches are some of the greatest to coach in the league but they were, unfortunately, unable to secure the greatest prize the NBA has to offer.
Stan Van Gundy
Stan Van Gundy is a former NBA coach and a current game analyst for TNT. Prior to his time with TNT, Stan Van Gundy was the head coach for the New Orleans Pelicans, the Detroit Pistons, the Miami Heat, and the Orlando Magic.
Stan Van Gundy was a starting guard in high school and played college basketball under his father at SUNY-Brockport, graduating in 1981 with a B.A. in English and a B.S. in physical education.
Following his time in college, Stan Van Gundy would be an assistant coach at the University of Vermont and a head coach at Castleton State College. He would also have tenures at Canisius, Fordham, UMass, and Wisconsin before becoming an assistant and head coach in the NBA.
And although Van Gundy led the Orlando Magic to the 2009 NBA Finals, they were unable to secure an NBA championship ring.
Mike D’Antoni
Mike D’Antoni is an Italian-American basketball coach and player and is the current coaching advisor to the New Orleans Pelicans. Favoring a more fast-paced, offense-oriented play style, D’Antoni was either a head coach or an assistant coach for the Denver Nuggets, Portland Trail Blazers, Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, Philadelphia 76ers, Houston Rockets, and Brooklyn Nets.
Having played high school basketball at Mullens High School in Mullens, West Virginia, D’Antoni played college basketball at Marshall University. Following college, he played for the Kansas City-Omaha Kings, the Spirits of St. Louis, and the San Antonio Spurs.
Byron Scott
Byron Scott is a former NBA player and head coach. Having played for the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1980’s, he won three NBA championships. In addition, he was named the NBA Coach of the Year with the New Orleans Hornets in 2008.
Scott grew up in Inglewood, California and played basketball at Morningside High School. He would then play college basketball at Arizona State University for three years, being named the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year in 1980 and First-team All-Pac-10 in 1983.
Although Scott played for the Los Angeles Lakers, the Indiana Pacers, and the Vancouver Grizzlies, he saw the most success with his time with the Lakers.
Following his playing career, Scott coached the Sacramento Kings as an assistant coach and the New Jersey Nets, New Orleans Hornets, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Los Angeles Lakers as a head coach.
And although Scott helped the New Jersey Nets reach the NBA Finals twice, he was unable to secure an NBA championship ring either time.
George Karl
George Karl is both a former NBA player and head coach. He played fiver years for the San Antonio Spurs and was the assistant coach of the team. A few years later, he would become one of the youngest head coaches in NBA history at just the age of 33.
George Karl was born and raised in Penn Hills, Pennsylvania. He played college basketball at the University of North Carolina. He was selected in the fourth round of the 1973 NBA draft by the New York Knicks, however he would opt to sign and play with the San Antonio Spurs of the ABA.
Jerry Sloan
Jerry Sloan was also both an NBA player and head coach. He played for a total of 11 seasons in the league before beginning his 30-year coaching career. Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009, former NBA commissioner David Stern referred to Sloan as, “”one of the greatest and most respected coaches in NBA history”.
Sloan played college basketball with the Evansville Purple Aces and was selected by the Baltimore Bullets with the fourth overall pick in the 1965 NBA draft. Although he only spent one year with the Bullets, he would spend the remainder of his NBA playing career with the Chicago Bulls.
Jerry Sloan would coach the Utah Jazz for 23 seasons, finishing his coaching career with an overall record of 1,221-803, placing him third all time in NBA wins. The fifth coach to reach 1,000 NBA victories and one of two coaches in NBA history to record 1,000 wins with one team.
Don Nelson
Both an NBA player and head coach, Don Nelson is second all-time in regular season wins of any coach in the history of the league with 1,335 wins. Having coached the Milwaukee Bucks, the New York Knicks, the Dallas Mavericks, and the Golden State Warriors, Don Nelson was never able to secure an NBA championship ring as an NBA coach.
Inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012, Don Nelson played college basketball at Iowa. He was selected by the NBA’s Chicago Zephyrs with the 17th pick in the 1962 NBA draft.
Don Nelson would win five NBA championships as an NBA player, each with the Boston Celtics. As a head coach, he would win the NBA Coach of the Year three times and be a 2-time NBA All-Star Game head coach.
As a head coach, he was most famously known for his “Nellie Ball” style of play. An offensive strategy he developed, it is a fast-paced, run-and-gun style which relies on smaller, more athletic players who can create mismatches by outrunning their opponents.