The 25 Worst Coaches in NBA History

Intro

This list is full of coaches who took the reigns of a team with hope and confidence. Some of these men were challenged with taking contenders to the next level. Others were responsible for saving a franchise. A few were tasked with winning a championship. But all of them failed miserably.

Bad NBA coaches are easy to spot. They start out optimistic and stoic, but as the losses pile up and the pressures of failure mount, they become red-faced, screaming maniacs pacing the sideline in agony. Their suits become wrinkled, hair disheveled and eventually we're left with a man who is broken and lost, pit stained and powerless.

We've got miscues, scandals, player beefs and losing—lots and lots of losing. So, grab a handful of Tums, park it in a hot seat and find an apathetic superstar to ignore you as Complex counts down the 25 Worst Coaches in NBA History.

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Randy Wittman

25. Randy Wittman

Team(s): Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves & Washington Wizards
Tenure: 1999-2001/ 2006-2009/ 2012-Present
Overall Record: 100-207

Randy Wittman took mildly competitive teams in Cleveland and Minnesota and ran them right into the ground. Though neither franchise was loaded with talent, both teams were a season removed from the playoffs and trying to regain their postseason form. The Cavs and Wolves would fail miserably. Cleveland went 62-102 before removing Wittman, and in his first full season in Minnesota, Wittman was 22-60. After those atrocious stays in Cleveland and Minnesota, Wittman's most painful tenure may be his current one with the Washington Wizards. Stay tuned.

Bill Hanzlik

24. Bill Hanzlik

Team(s): Denver Nuggets
Tenure: 1997-1998
Overall Record: 11-71

Bill Hanzlik's sample size (82 games) is the smallest on this list, but his ruthlessly woeful season in Denver was enough to live forever in bad coaching infamy. The '97-'98 Nuggets longest winning streak was 2 games. By contrast, Denver had losing streaks of 12, 16, and 23 en route to an 11-71 record, the worst in the franchise's 45-year history.

Vinny Del Negro

23. Vinny Del Negro

Team(s): Chicago Bulls & LA Clippers
Tenure: 2008-2010/ 2010-Present
Overall Record: 129-139

His current Lob City tenure notwithstanding and in spite of his close to .500 career record, Vinny Del Negro made our list because, well, because he's an atrocious coach. Del Negro may be the luckiest coach alive, surrounded by players (Derrick Rose, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin) talented enough to save their blundering coach, and he landed his now coveted Clipper gig back when Donald Sterling couldn't give it away. And remember, the season after Del Negro was forced out of Chicago, Tom Thibodeau led the Bulls to the league's best record and an Eastern Conference Finals appearance with basically the same roster. If you're still not convinced, sit on this one for a second. After playing an injured Joakim Noah for more minutes that the Chicago Bulls medical staff prearranged, Del Negro was involved in a physical altercation with Bulls GM John Paxson. So, why are the GM and coach bro-shoving one another in the tunnel? Well, Chicago's big man re-aggravated his injury playing extended minutes and was forced to sit out the next ten games (Chicago went 0-10 during that stretch).

Leonard Hamilton

22. Leonard Hamilton

Team(s): Washington Wizards
Tenure: 2000-2001
Overall Record: 19-63

Stop us if you've heard this one before: hot shit college coach falls on his face in the NBA. Leonard Hamilton burst onto the NBA scene after turning around the University of Miami's basketball program over the course of a decade. It took him one season to sink the Wizards. During their dreadful '00-'01 season, Washington got off to a 7-34 start before ending the season with the third worst record in the league. Hamilton was ousted and went back to what he knows best; college basketball in The Sunshine State. He's in his tenth season as the coach for Florida State.

Richie Adubato

21. Richie Adubato

Team(s): Detroit Pistons, Dallas Mavericks & Orlando Magic
Tenure: 1979-1980/ 1990-1993/ 1996-1997
Overall Record: 127-240

Richie Adubato presided over many a bad season, but he was also famous for coaching teams through notoriously awful runs. Adubato ended his tenure in Detroit on a 14-game losing streak to close out the season. As bad as that was, it was nothing compared to what he would subject Mavs fans to while coaching Dallas. Adubato was fired from the Mavericks as they lost an incredible 35 of 37 games from November of '92 to February of '93.

Elgin Baylor

20. Elgin Baylor

Team(s): New Orleans Jazz
Tenure: 1974-1979
Overall Record: 86-135

Long before Wayne Gretzky proved how shitty a great player could coach, there was Elgin Baylor's tenure with the New Orleans. Baylor was one of the NBA's all-time greatest players but won at a mere .389 clip in three seasons with the Jazz. Baylor parlayed his failed coaching stint in to a 22-year career as GM of the Clippers…naturally.

Don Casey

19. Don Casey

Team(s): LA Clippers/ New Jersey Nets
Tenure: 1988-1990/ 1998-2000
Overall Record: 85-153

Don Casey was a horrible NBA coach (we'll get to that in a second), but first a classic story about Casey in college. While coaching the Temple Owls he ordered his team to stall with the basketball in order to draw the University of Tennessee out of their compact-zone defense. At one point the Owls held possession for 11 minutes before turning the ball over. In front of enraged, booing fans the plan famously backfired and Tennessee won the lowest scoring game in its history 11-6. With that sort of pedigree Casey was able to land brief stints with the Clippers and Nets. Casey went 41-85 in Los Angeles before being replaced by Mike Schuler and 44-68 in New Jersey before getting the boot for Byron Scott.

Garry St. Jean

18. Garry St. Jean

Team(s): Sacramento Kings & Golden State Warriors
Tenure: 1992-1997/ 1999-2000
Overall Record: 172-278

While Garry St. Jean had (like many before and after him) a horrible tenure with the Sacramento Kings, his worst term was a one-year catastrophe with the Warriors. St. Jean has the dubious distinction of being one of seven straight coaches that lasted three years or less with the Golden State. He tag-teamed with PJ Carlesimo to lead the'99-'00 Warriors to a 19-63 record, the second worst season in the club's 41-year history.

Wes Unseld

17. Wes Unseld

Team(s): Washington Bullets
Tenure: 1987-1994
Overall Record: 202-345

A surefire way to sink your franchise is to hire one of your team's all-time legends. The Washington Bullets did just that when they gave their greatest player ever, Wes Unseld, the keys to the team's future. In six full seasons as the Bullets coach, Unseld averaged over 53 losses per year and only made the playoffs once. Building on that success, Washington hired him to be the team's GM from 1996-2003 where he achieved eerily similar results-averaging over 47 losses per season and managing only one playoff appearance.

Rick Pitino

16. Rick Pitino

Team(s): New York Knicks & Boston Celtics
Tenure: 1987-1989/ 1997-2001
Overall Record: 192-220

Having taken Boston University to the tournament and Providence all the way to the Final Four, Rick Pitino was a bit of a legend in Massachusetts. So it was to a great deal of fanfare that Pitino was chosen to revive a struggling Celtics team in the late 90's. The trumpet blasting would be short lived. Pitino yielded a disappointing 102-146 record and cracked under the major league pressure. “'All the negativity that's in this town sucks,” he'd say during his third losing season. Pitino was so fed up that he left more than $20 million on the table, resigning with over six years still remaining on his contract.

Eric Musselman

15. Eric Musselman

Team(s): Golden State Warriors & Sacramento Kings
Tenure: 2002-2004/ 2006-2007
Overall Record: 108-138

Eric Musselman took over the Kings in what was supposed to be a turning point for the franchise. A year earlier the team had gone to the playoffs and its core talent was returning for their '06-'07 season. Everything was looking good until their coach was busted for DUI. The arrest garnered a great deal of media attention and the most lasting image of the King's breakout year was a tearful presser on behalf of their coach. The Kings finished an incredibly disappointing 33-49 and promptly fired Musselman.

Larry Krystkowiak

14. Larry Krystkowiak

Team(s): Milwaukee Bucks
Tenure: 2006-2008
Overall Record: 31-69

The Bucks were so hyped on Krystkowiak that they locked him up with a 4-year contract after he won his coaching debut against the Spurs. The excitement was fleeting. Behind Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut, the '07-'08 Milwaukee Bucks were touted as a possible playoff team. Krystkowiak made quick work of those hopes by leading the Bucks to an incredibly disappointing 26-56 season. When Milwaukee brought in GM John Hammond, his first order of business was to fire Krystkowiak. Can't say we blame him.

Bob Weiss

13. Bob Weiss

Team(s): San Antonio Spurs, Atlanta Hawks, LA Clippers & Seattle Sonics
Tenure: 1986-1988/ 1990-1993/ 1993-1994/ 2005-2006
Overall Record: 223-299

After a relatively successful 3-year stint with Atlanta (by successful we mean .500) Bob Weiss was tasked with trying to keep afloat the suddenly successful LA Clippers. Larry Brown had taken the Clippers to the playoffs two consecutive years before unexpectedly retiring in 1993. Weiss was passed the torch and used it to burn down Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. Amidst high expectations the Clippers finished 27-55, and Weiss was fired as attendance numbers plummeted to the lowest levels in the league. Weiss hovered in assistant coach obscurity for years before being given another shot to take a winner to the next level, this time with the Sonics. The year before Weiss' arrival, Seattle took the eventual champion Spurs to 6 games in the Western Conference Semifinals. With expectations high in '05-'06, Weiss fell on his face—again. Seattle crammed a decade's worth of front office issues, trade demands and technical fouls into a 13-17 start before Weiss was told to bounce.

John Calipari

12. John Calipari

Team(s): New Jersey Nets
Tenure: 1996-1999
Overall Record: 72-122

This list is littered with college coaches who made a disastrous jump to the NBA. And perhaps none of them did it more notoriously than John Calipari. Calipari has made a career out of coddling the country's best amateur talent. It turns out pampering your star doesn't work as well in the NBA as it does in college. The Nets seemed to be turning the corner, landing a playoff spot during the '97-'98 season. But in the locker room, there was growing contempt towards Calipari and his expressions of favoritism towards Nets star Sam Cassell. When the Nets players felt as though Calipari was babying Cassell through an ankle injury, their frustration turned into a full blown mutiny. The Nets quit on their coach as he watched hopelessly from the sidelines. After a 3-17 start to the '98-'99 season, Calipari was forced to resign.

Brian Winters

11. Brian Winters

Team(s): Vancouver Grizzlies & Golden State Warriors
Tenure: 1995-1997/ 2001-2002
Overall Record: 36-148

It's not really fair to put an expansion coach on a list like this, but Winters tenure with Vancouver was so epically dreadful it deserves mention and a high rank. The Grizzlies 15-67 record in '95-'96 matched the worst expansion mark in the history of the NBA. Under Winters, Vancouver lost an NBA record 23 consecutive games and reached 100 losses faster than any other franchise in NBA history. The Hall of Shame performance doesn't end there either, Winters' .196 career winning percentage is the lowest ever by an NBA coach with at least 100 games coached.

Stu Jackson

10. Stu Jackson

Team(s): New York Knicks & Vancouver Grizzlies
Tenure: 1989-1991/ 1996-1997
Overall Record: 58-78

When Stu Jackson took over the Knicks, they were coming off a first place season, a semifinal playoff run and were loaded with talented players like Patrick Ewing, Mark Jackson and Charles Oakley. Jackson's first order of business was to overhaul the offense; turning the running Knicks into a half court team was a big mistake. The Knicks got worse, falling to third place in the Atlantic Division in Jackson's first season. When the team started 7-8 in '90-'91, Jackson was fired. With Jackson an afterthought, the Knicks started the '91-'92 season behind Pat Riley and would go on to make ten straight playoff appearances.

Kurt Rambis

9. Kurt Rambis

Team(s): LA Lakers & Minnesota Timberwolves
Tenure: 1998-1999/ 2009-2011
Overall Record: 56-145

With a team void of experience nobody expected the Timberwolves to contend when Kurt Rambis took control in 2009, but with young talent in Kevin Love and Jonny Flynn (and in Rambis' second year, Michael Beasley), the team was supposed to be competitive and improve. Technically they did improve, going from 15 wins in Rambis' first year, to 17 in his second, but somehow that wasn't enough, and Rambis was fired after his two-year stint with the club yielded an NBA worst 32-132. A year removed from Rambis control, the Timberwolves are above .500 and in the hunt for a playoff spot. Ruuuuubbbbbbiiiiiooooo!

John Kuester

8. John Kuester

Team(s): Detroit Pistons
Tenure: 2009-2011
Overall Record: 57-107

The once storied Detroit Pistons franchise went from perennial title contenders under Flip Saunders to Eastern Conference bottom-feeders in two seasons after Brian Kuester took over the team in 2009. Kuester started his career as a college coach (and not a particularly good one: his 1989 GWU Colonials put together a 1-27 record, one of the worst seasons in NCAA history). If his .348 winning clip with the Pistons wasn't bad enough, Kuester was often mocked and disrespected by his veteran-laden team. When he was ejected from a regular season game in 2011, Tracy McGrady and Ben Wallace could be seen laughing at him as he was escorted off the court. The embattled coach was given the boot after Detroit finished the season 30-52.

Johnny Bach

7. Johnny Bach

Team(s): Golden State Warriors
Tenure: 1979-1980/ 1983-1986
Overall Record: 95-172

Johnny Bach was like a great keyboardist; an important part of the band who should've never made the mistake of going solo. Bach won three rings as an assistant coach to Phil Jackson and the Bulls, but before he was popping bottles in Chicago, he was burning the bar down in Oak-Town. Bach was a dreadful 38 games under .500 in his second full season during his second stint with the club (he served as interim coach for 21 games during the '79-'80 season). Bach's '85-'86 Warriors went 30-52, good for last place in the Western Conference. Bach abandoned head coaching for good to take a supportive role with the Bulls—good move.

Isiah Thomas

6. Isiah Thomas

Team(s): Indiana Pacers & New York Knicks
Tenure: 2000-2003/ 2006-2008
Overall Record: 187-223

Isiah Thomas spent almost a half decade destroying the Knicks with body blows as their GM and then unloaded a knockout punch during a two-year stint as their head coach. As an executive, Thomas put together a team that posted the league's second worst record despite having its highest payroll. He lost an $11.5 million sexual harassment lawsuit and as a coach he was investigated by the league for allegedly instigating an on-court brawl with the Nuggets. We haven't even gotten to his wins and losses yet. Thomas rode the slothful and incredibly overpaid trio of Stephon Marbury, Eddy Curry and Jamal Crawford towards a franchise record 59 losses in '07-'08 before he was removed from his coaching duties.

Marc Iavaroni

5. Marc Iavaroni

Team(s): Memphis Grizzlies
Tenure: 2007-2009
Overall Record: 33-90

Marc Iavaroni took over the Memphis Grizzlies in 2007 with a young, talented nucleus of players that included Rudy Gay, Mike Conley, and Pau Gasol. What should have been a competitive, up-and-coming franchise quickly became a loss column mainstay. After an 11-30 start to the '08-'09 season Iavaroni was given the boot and the Grizz have been better for it. Since the firing, the Grizzlies have been a mediocre 99-106, not quite a dynasty but a far cry from the .268 winning percentage they recorded during Iavaroni's tenure.

Mike Montgomery

4. Mike Montgomery

Team(s): Golden State Warriors
Tenure: 2004-2006
Overall Record: 68-96

When Mike Montogmery and the Warriors finished the '04-'05 season 34-48, it was reported that the team's GM, Chris Mullin, wanted him fired but was overruled by ownership. When Montgomery recorded the exact same record the following year, there was no saving him. The Warriors brought in Don Nelson in a blast-from-the-past strategy to end over a decade of playoff futility and it worked. After removing Montgomery, Nelson took the Warriors to the playoffs for the first time in 12 seasons. With basically the same roster Montgomery was working for years, Nelson led Golden State past the No. 1 seeded Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs.

Sidney Lowe

3. Sidney Lowe

Team(s): Minnesota Timberwolves & Memphis Grizzlies
Tenure: 1992-1994/ 2000-2003
Overall Record: 79-228

The bar wasn't exactly set high for Pau Gasol and the Memphis Grizzlies going into the '02-'03 season, but ownership was growing tired of being a Western Conference laughingstock. After back-to-back 23-59 seasons, Sidney Lowe was on the hot seat. When you're under that kind of pressure coaches either bow their necks or choke in the moment. Sidney Lowe swallowed a toothpick and dropped to his knees en route to an eight-game losing streak to start the season before he was given his walking papers.

Lon Kruger

2. Lon Kruger

Team(s): Atlanta Hawks
Tenure: 2000-2003
Overall Record: 69-122

After successfully turning around a handful of college programs, Lon Kruger left the University of Illinois in 2000 to lead the Atlanta Hawks. As it turns out, he may have been a better recruiter than coach. In his first season with the team, the rebuilding Hawks went 25-57, the following year they finished nine games out of the playoffs. Kruger, brimming with confidence—for, you know, going 58-106 in his first two seasons—had the brilliant idea to offer a $125 refund to season ticket holders if the Hawks didn't make the playoffs during the '02-'03 campaign. Kruger's guarantee predictably fell flat and he was fired after an 11-16 start to the season.

Tim Floyd

1. Tim Floyd

Team(s): Chicago Bulls & New Orleans Hornets
Tenure: 1998-2002/ 2003-2004
Overall Record: 90-231

Tim Floyd's most notorious coaching gaffe occurred when he allegedly made a cash payment to the man responsible for delivering OJ Mayo to USC. But long before he became a college coaching bagman, Floyd was Phil Jackson's bumbling heir apparent, handed the keys to the post-Jordan Era Chicago Bulls. Now losing MJ, Scottie and Dennis was certainly enough to plummet expectations, but Floyd cratered the franchise. Chicago finished the strike shortened '98-'99 season with a 13-37 record, somehow got worse in Floyd's first full season (17-65), and hit a Lindsey Lohan-like rock bottom the next year, going 15-67. When Floyd started the '01-'02 campaign 4-21, he resigned on Christmas Eve. After winning six championships in eight seasons, Floyd was the Bulls long overdue market correction, driving the team into a lost decade.