List of Boston Celtics head coaches

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Boston Celtics are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team is owned by Wyc Grousbeck with Brad Stevens as the general manager.[1] Founded in 1946, their 17 NBA championships are the tied for the most for any NBA franchise along with their long time rivals Los Angeles Lakers,[1] and their eight consecutive NBA championships from 1959 to 1966 represent the longest consecutive championship winning streak of any major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada to date. They play their home games in the TD Garden.[1]

There have been 18 head coaches for the Boston Celtics franchise. The Celtics won their first NBA championship in the 1957 NBA Finals under the coaching of Red Auerbach. Auerbach is the franchise's all-time leader in the number of regular-season and playoff wins as a coach.[2] Auerbach and Bill Fitch were included in the Top 10 Coaches in NBA history.[3] Fitch was the 1979–80 NBA Coach of the Year and also led the Celtics to a championship in 1981. Auerbach led the Celtics to nine championships, in 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, and 1966. He was also the 1965–66 Coach of the Year. K.C. Jones led the Celtics to two championships, in 1984 and 1986. Alvin Julian, Auerbach, Tom Heinsohn, Fitch and Rick Pitino have earned induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame as coaches.[4][5]

Bill Russell, Tom Heinsohn, Tom Sanders, Dave Cowens, K.C. Jones, Chris Ford and M. L. Carr have played and coached for the Celtics. John Russell, Alvin Julian, Heinsohn, Sanders, Carr, and John Carroll spent their entire coaching career with the Celtics. Doc Rivers, led the team to one NBA championship.[1]

Key[edit]

GC Games coached
W Wins
L Losses
Win% Winning percentage
# Number of coaches[a]
* Spent entire NBA head coaching career with the Celtics
† Elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach
*† Elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach and
spent entire coaching career with the Celtics

Coaches[edit]

Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2022–23 season.

# Name Term[b] GC W L Win% GC W L Win% Achievements Reference
Regular season Playoffs
1 John Russell* 1946–1948 108 42 66 .389 3 1 2 .333 [6]
2 Alvin Julian*† 1948–1950 128 47 81 .367 — — — — [4]
3 Red Auerbach† 1950–1966 1192 795 397 .669 148 90 58 .608 9 championships (1957, 1959, 1960, 1961,
1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966)
1964–65 NBA Coach of the Year
One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[3] 		[5]
4 Bill Russell† 1966–1969 (as player-coach) 245 162 83 .661 18 12 6 .667 2 championships (1968, 1969) [7]
5 Tom Heinsohn*† 1969–1978 690 427 263 .619 80 47 33 .588 1972–73 NBA Coach of the Year
2 championships (1974, 1976) 		[8]
6 Tom Sanders* 1978 62 23 39 .371 — — — — [9]
7 Dave Cowens 1978–1979 (as player-coach) 68 27 41 .397 — — — — [10]
8 Bill Fitch† 1979–1983 328 242 86 .738 45 26 19 .578 1 championship (1981)
1979–80 NBA Coach of the year
One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[3] 		[11]
9 K. C. Jones 1983–1988 410 308 102 .751 102 65 37 .637 2 championships (1984, 1986) [12]
10 Jimmy Rodgers 1988–1990 164 94 70 .573 8 2 6 .250 [13]
11 Chris Ford 1990–1995 410 222 188 .541 29 13 16 .448 [14]
12 M. L. Carr* 1995–1997 164 48 116 .293 — — — — [15]
13 Rick Pitino 1997–2001 248 102 146 .411 — — — — [16]
14 Jim O'Brien 2001–2004 258 139 119 .539 26 13 13 .500 [17]
15 John Carroll* 2004 36 14 22 .389 4 0 4 .000 [18]
16 Doc Rivers 2004–2013 721 416 305 .577 104 58 46 .558 1 championship (2008) [19]
17 Brad Stevens* 2013–2021 636 354 282 .557 78 38 40 .487 [20]
18 Ime Udoka 2021–2022 82 51 31 .622 24 14 10 .583 [21]
19 Joe Mazzulla* 2022–present 82 57 25 .695 20 11 9 .550 [22]

Notes[edit]

  • a A running total of the number of coaches of the Celtics. Thus, any coach who has two or more separate terms as head coach is only counted once.
  • b Each year is linked to an article about that particular Celtics season.

References[edit]

General
  • "Boston Celtics Coach Register". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 23, 2008.
  • "Boston Celtics Coach Stats". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved June 23, 2008.
Specific
  1. ^ a b c d "Boston Celtics – History". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved June 24, 2008.
  2. ^ "Boston Celtics coach stats @ official site". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved June 23, 2008.
  3. ^ a b c "Top 10 Coaches in NBA History". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on February 9, 2012. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
  4. ^ a b "Alvin Julian". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 24, 2008.
  5. ^ a b "Red Auerbach". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 24, 2008.
  6. ^ "John Russell". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 24, 2008.
  7. ^ "Bill Russell". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 24, 2008.
  8. ^ "Tom Heinsohn". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved May 24, 2008.
  9. ^ "Tom Sanders". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 24, 2008.
  10. ^ "Dave Cowens". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved May 24, 2008.
  11. ^ "Bill Fitch". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 23, 2008.
  12. ^ "K.C. Jones". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 23, 2008.
  13. ^ "Jimmy Rodgers". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 23, 2008.
  14. ^ "Chris Ford". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 23, 2008.
  15. ^ "M.L. Carr". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 23, 2008.
  16. ^ "Rick Pitino". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on June 24, 2008. Retrieved June 23, 2008.
  17. ^ "Jim O'Brian". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 23, 2008.
  18. ^ "John Carroll". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 23, 2008.
  19. ^ "Doc Rivers". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 23, 2008.
  20. ^ "Brad Stevens Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  21. ^ "Ime Udoka Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  22. ^ "Joe Mazzulla Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 17, 2023.

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