List of Detroit Pistons head coaches
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The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit, Michigan. The Pistons, currently owned by Tom Gores, are in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA), playing their home games at Little Caesars Arena.[1][2]
The franchise was founded in 1941 by Fred Zollner in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Zollner Pistons, playing in the National Basketball League (NBL).[3] In 1948, the team was renamed the Fort Wayne Pistons and joined the Basketball Association of America (BAA), merging with the NBL to form the NBA one year later.[3] After nine seasons in Fort Wayne, Zollner moved the team to Detroit in 1957 to compete financially with other big city teams.[4] In the 1980s, general manager Jack McCloskey drafted Isiah Thomas, acquired Joe Dumars and Dennis Rodman, and hired head coach Chuck Daly.[4] The 1980s team, known as "the Bad Boys" due to their physical playing style, won both the 1989 and 1990 NBA Finals under Daly.[4] The Pistons won their third and most recent title in the 2004 NBA Finals under Larry Brown.[4]
Since joining the NBA, the Pistons have had 37 head coaches. Carl Bennett was the franchise's first head coach, leading the team for six games, all of which were losses.[5] Daly is the franchise's all-time leader in regular-season games coached (738), regular-season games won (467), playoff games coached (113), and playoff games won (71).[6] Flip Saunders is the franchise's all-time leader in regular season win percentage (.715).[7] Daly and Brown are the only members of the franchise to be inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame as coaches,[6][8] with Daly also being selected as one of the top 10 coaches in NBA history.[9] Ray Scott and Rick Carlisle won the NBA Coach of the Year Award for the 1973–74 and 2001–02 season, respectively.[10] Dick Vitale was named to the Basketball Hall of Fame to recognize the work he did as a broadcaster after leaving the franchise.[11] Sixteen head coaches have spent their entire NBA coaching careers with the Pistons. Notable players and coaches who spent time with the Pistons include Curly Armstrong,[12] Red Rocha,[13] Dick McGuire,[14] Dave DeBusschere,[15] Donnis Butcher,[16] Terry Dischinger,[17] Earl Lloyd,[18] Ray Scott,[19] and Michael Curry.[20]
The current head coach of the Pistons is J. B. Bickerstaff.[21]
| GC | Games coached |
| W | Wins |
| L | Losses |
| Win% | Winning percentage |
| # | Number of coaches[a] |
| * | Spent entire NBA head coaching career with the Pistons |
|---|---|
| ‡ | Elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach |
Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2023–24 season. The list does not include NBL seasons.
| # | Name | Term[b] | GC | W | L | Win% | GC | W | L | Win% | Achievements | Reference | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||||
| Fort Wayne Pistons | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | Carl Bennett* | 1948 | 6 | 0 | 6 | .000 | — | — | — | — | [5] | ||||
| 2 | Curly Armstrong* | 1948–1949 (as player-coach) | 54 | 22 | 32 | .407 | — | — | — | — | [22] | ||||
| 3 | Murray Mendenhall* | 1949–1951 | 136 | 72 | 64 | .529 | 7 | 3 | 4 | .429 | [23] | ||||
| 4 | Paul Birch | 1951–1954 | 207 | 105 | 102 | .507 | 14 | 4 | 10 | .286 | [24] | ||||
| 5 | Charley Eckman* | 1954–1957 | 216 | 114 | 102 | .528 | 24 | 10 | 14 | .417 | [25] | ||||
| Detroit Pistons | |||||||||||||||
| — | Charley Eckman* | 1957 | 25 | 9 | 16 | .360 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | [25] | ||||
| 6 | Red Rocha* | 1957–1960 | 153 | 65 | 88 | .425 | 10 | 4 | 6 | .400 | [26] | ||||
| 7 | Dick McGuire | 1959–1960 (as player-coach) 1960–1963 |
280 | 122 | 158 | .436 | 21 | 8 | 13 | .381 | [27] | ||||
| 8 | Charles Wolf | 1963–1964 | 91 | 25 | 66 | .433 | — | — | — | — | [28] | ||||
| 9 | Dave DeBusschere* | 1964–1967 (as player-coach) | 222 | 79 | 143 | .356 | — | — | — | — | [29] | ||||
| 10 | Donnis Butcher* | 1967–1968 | 112 | 52 | 60 | .464 | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 | [30] | ||||
| 11 | Paul Seymour | 1968–1969 | 60 | 22 | 38 | .367 | — | — | — | — | [31] | ||||
| 12 | Butch van Breda Kolff | 1969–1971 | 174 | 82 | 92 | .471 | — | — | — | — | [32] | ||||
| 13 | Terry Dischinger* | 1971 (as player-coach) | 2 | 0 | 2 | .000 | — | — | — | — | [33] | ||||
| 14 | Earl Lloyd* | 1971–1972 | 77 | 22 | 55 | .286 | — | — | — | — | [34] | ||||
| 15 | Ray Scott* | 1972–1976 | 281 | 147 | 134 | .523 | 10 | 4 | 6 | .400 | 1973–74 NBA Coach of the Year[10] | [35] | |||
| 16 | Herb Brown* | 1976–1977 | 146 | 72 | 74 | .493 | 12 | 5 | 7 | .417 | [36] | ||||
| 17 | Bob Kauffman* | 1977–1978 | 58 | 29 | 29 | .500 | — | — | — | — | [37] | ||||
| 18 | Dick Vitale* | 1978–1979 | 94 | 34 | 60 | .362 | — | — | — | — | [38] | ||||
| 19 | Richie Adubato | 1979–1980 | 70 | 12 | 58 | .171 | — | — | — | — | [39] | ||||
| 20 | Scotty Robertson | 1980–1983 | 246 | 97 | 149 | .394 | — | — | — | — | [40] | ||||
| 21 | Chuck Daly‡ | 1983–1992 | 738 | 467 | 271 | .633 | 113 | 71 | 42 | .628 | 2 NBA championships (1989, 1990) One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[9] |
[6] | |||
| 22 | Ron Rothstein | 1992–1993 | 82 | 40 | 42 | .488 | — | — | — | — | [41] | ||||
| 23 | Don Chaney | 1993–1995 | 164 | 48 | 116 | .293 | — | — | — | — | [42] | ||||
| 24 | Doug Collins | 1995–1998 | 209 | 121 | 88 | .579 | 8 | 2 | 6 | .250 | [43] | ||||
| 25 | Alvin Gentry | 1998–2000 | 145 | 73 | 72 | .503 | 5 | 2 | 3 | .400 | [44] | ||||
| 26 | George Irvine | 2000–2001 | 106 | 46 | 60 | .434 | 3 | 0 | 3 | .000 | [45] | ||||
| 27 | Rick Carlisle | 2001–2003 | 164 | 100 | 64 | .610 | 27 | 12 | 15 | .444 | 2001–02 NBA Coach of the Year[10] | [46] | |||
| 28 | Larry Brown | 2003–2005 | 164 | 108 | 56 | .659 | 48 | 31 | 17 | .646 | NBA championship (2004) | [8] | |||
| 29 | Flip Saunders | 2005–2008 | 246 | 176 | 70 | .715 | 51 | 30 | 21 | .588 | [7] | ||||
| 30 | Michael Curry* | 2008–2009 | 82 | 39 | 43 | .476 | 4 | 0 | 4 | .000 | [47] | ||||
| 31 | John Kuester* | 2009–2011 | 164 | 57 | 107 | .348 | — | — | — | — | [48] | ||||
| 32 | Lawrence Frank | 2011–2013 | 148 | 54 | 94 | .365 | — | — | — | — | [49] | ||||
| 33 | Maurice Cheeks | 2013–2014 | 50 | 21 | 29 | .420 | — | — | — | — | [50] | ||||
| 34 | John Loyer* | 2014 | 32 | 8 | 24 | .250 | — | — | — | — | [51] | ||||
| 35 | Stan Van Gundy | 2014–2018 | 328 | 152 | 176 | .463 | 4 | 0 | 4 | .000 | [52] | ||||
| 36 | Dwane Casey | 2018–2023 | 384 | 121 | 263 | .315 | 4 | 0 | 4 | .000 | [53] | ||||
| 37 | Monty Williams | 2023–2024 | 82 | 14 | 68 | .171 | — | — | — | – | [54] | ||||
| 38 | J. B. Bickerstaff | 2024–present | — | — | — | – | — | — | — | – | [55] | ||||
Chuck Daly led the Pistons to two consecutive championships in the 1980s. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1994.
Larry Brown was the Detroit Pistons head coach from 2003 to 2005 and led the team to the NBA championship in 2004.
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