Phil Jackson was the head coach of the Lakers across 11 seasons.
The Los Angeles Lakers have had 29 different head coaches in franchise history. Six of them have won at least one championship. Let’s highlight their top five all-time leaders in games coached.
1. Phil Jackson, 902 Games
Jackson had a lengthy coaching stint with the Bulls that included him winning six championships. He took over as the head coach of the Lakers at the start of the 1999-00 season. He won a championship in his first season with the team and would eventually win three straight championships to begin his Lakers tenure. Jackson eventually won five total titles as the head coach of the Lakers. Across 11 seasons with the franchise, he had a regular season record of 610-292. In the playoffs, he went 181-118.
2. Pat Riley, 727 Games
Riley served as an assistant coach for the Lakers before taking over the team during the 1981-82 season. The Lakers won the title that season. Riley won at least 50 games every season that he coached the Lakers and won at least 60 games in a season five times. He would go on to win four championships with the team. Over nine seasons with the Lakers, he went 533-194 during the regular season. In the playoffs, he went 149-102.
3. John Kundla, 725 Games
Kundla was the head coach of the Minneapolis Lakers for 11 seasons. The Lakers were BAA Champions with him at the helm of the 1948-49 season. They then won the NBA championship the following season. In their first five seasons in the NBA, Kundla led them to four championships. During the regular season, Kindla amassed a career record of 423-302. In the playoffs, he went 60-35.
4. Fred Schaus, 560 Games
Schaus coached the Lakers for seven seasons. His best regular season record came in 1961-62 when the team went 54-26. The following season, the team went 53-27. Those would end up being the only seasons of his career that Schaus won at least 50 games. He spent his entire head coaching career with the Lakers, finishing with a regular season record of 315-245. He went 33-38 in the playoffs and did not win a championship.
5. Bill Sharman, 410 Games
Sharman was the head coach of the San Francisco Warriors in the NBA for two seasons before coaching three seasons in the ABA. He returned to the NBA in 1971-72 as the head coach of the Lakers. The team went 69-13 that season and won the championship. They went 60-22 the following season, but lost in the NBA Finals. The team made the playoffs again the following season, but were knocked out in the Western Conference Semifinals. The team did not make the playoffs in either of the final two seasons that Sharman was at the helm. He finished with a career regular season record of 246-164 with the Lakers. In the playoffs, he went 22-15.
