List of Golden State Warriors head coaches

The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco, California. The franchise had been known as the Philadelphia Warriors and the San Francisco Warriors, due to it previously being based in or near those cities. The team is a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Warriors initially joined the Basketball Association of America (BAA) as the Philadelphia Warriors in 1946, and won the first BAA championship title in the same year under coach Eddie Gottlieb. The Warriors later joined the NBA at its foundation in 1949. The Warriors' record was 26–42 in their first NBA season and lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Syracuse Nationals.[1][2] Franklin Mieuli and the Diners Club put together a group of 40 local investors to move the Warriors to San Francisco before the 1962–63 NBA season, with Mieuli eventually buying all the shares of the franchise to keep the team from collapsing and to keep it in the area. The team became the Golden State Warriors and moved to Oakland before the 1971–72 NBA season.[3][4][5]

There have been 25 head coaches for the Warriors franchise. The franchise won their first NBA championship as the Philadelphia Warriors in the 1956 NBA Finals, and were coached by George Senesky.[3] Their second title was won as the Golden State Warriors in 1975, under coach Al Attles, who played with and coached the Warriors for 25 seasons.[3][6][7] He is also the franchise's all-time leader in regular season games coached and wins. Steve Kerr, who coached the Warriors to four championships in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2022, leads the franchise in winning percentage for games coached, as well as playoff games coached and wins.[8]

Frank McGuire is one of the members of the franchise that has been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as coaches, while being the only one to do so that has spent his whole career with the franchise.[9] Alex Hannum, Don Nelson, and Bill Sharman are the only other members of the franchise that have been inducted into the Hall of Fame.[10][11] Hannum, Nelson, and Kerr have both received the NBA Coach of the Year award once.[10][12] Nelson has also been named one of the top 10 coaches in NBA history.[13] Four former players for the Warriors, Attles, Johnston, George Lee, and Senesky went on to coach for the franchise.[7][14][15][16]

Key

GCGames coached
WWins
LLosses
Win%Winning percentage
#Number of coaches[a]
Elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach
*Spent entire NBA head coaching career with the Warriors
*†Elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach
and spent entire NBA head coaching career with the Warriors

Coaches

Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2023–24 season.

#NameTerm[b]GCWLWin%GCWLWin%AchievementsReference
Regular seasonPlayoffs
Philadelphia Warriors
1Eddie Gottlieb*19461955581263318.453321517.4691 Championship (1947)[17]
2George Senesky*1955195821611997.551201010.5001 Championship (1956)[18]
3Al Cervi1958–1959723240.444[19]
4Neil Johnston*195919611549559.6171248.333[20]
5Frank McGuire*†1961–1962804931.6131266.500[9]
San Francisco Warriors
6Bob Feerick1962–1963803149.388[21]
7Alex Hannum19631966240100140.4171257.4171963–64 NBA Coach of the Year[22][10]
8Bill Sharman196619681638776.534251312.520[11]
9George Lee*196819701346371.470624.333[23]
10Al Attles*19701971 (as player-coach)1224963.438514.200[6]
Golden State Warriors
Al Attles*19711980707394323.550562927.5181 Championship (1975)[6]
11Johnny Bach*198021615.286[24]
Al Attles*19801983246114132.463[6]
Johnny Bach*1983198624689157.362[24]
12George Karl198619881465888.3971046.400[25]
13Ed Gregory*198818414.222[26]
14Don Nelson19881995537277260.51624915.3751991–92 NBA Coach of the Year[22]
One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[13]
[12]
15Bob Lanier*1995371225.324[27]
16Rick Adelman199519971646698.402[28]
17P.J. Carlesimo1997199915946113.289[29]
18Garry St. Jean1999–2000551342.236[30]
19Dave Cowens200020011052580.238[31]
20Brian Winters2001–2002591346.220[32]
21Eric Musselman200220041647589.457[33]
22Mike Montgomery*200420061646896.415[34]
Don Nelson20062010328145183.4421156.455One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[13][12]
23Keith Smart2010–2011823646.439[35]
24Mark Jackson*20112014230121109.52619910.474[36]
25Steve Kerr*2014–present793519274.6541409941.7074 Championships (2015, 2017, 2018, 2022)
2015–16 NBA Coach of the Year[37]
[38]

Notes

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

References

General
  • "Warriors Coach Register". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 6, 2008.
Specific