List of Los Angeles Clippers head coaches
Encyclopedia
Los Angeles Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers are a professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California, United States. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association...
are an American professional basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
team based in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. They play in the Pacific Division
Pacific Division (NBA)
The Pacific Division is one of the three divisions in the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association . The division consists of five teams, the Golden State Warriors, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Phoenix Suns and the Sacramento Kings...
of the Western Conference
Western Conference (NBA)
Below is a list of current Western Conference NBA team rosters.-Western Conference:There are a total of 15 teams in the Western Conference. The current leading team of the Western conference are the Dallas Mavericks....
in the National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
(NBA). The Clippers joined the NBA in 1970 as an expansion team
Expansion team
An expansion team is a brand new team in a sports league. The term is most commonly used in reference to the North American major professional sports leagues, but is applied to sports leagues worldwide that use a closed franchise system of league membership. The term comes from the expansion of the...
. The team has had three names since its inception: the Buffalo Braves (1970–1978), the San Diego Clippers (1978–1984), and the Los Angeles Clippers (1984–present). The Clippers are the oldest franchise in the NBA to have never reached the league finals
NBA Finals
The NBA Finals is the championship series of the National Basketball Association . The series was named the NBA World Championship Series until 1986....
. The team has played its home games at the Staples Center
Staples Center
Staples Center is a multi-purpose sports arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. Opening on October 17, 1999, it is one of the major sporting facilities in the Greater Los Angeles...
since 1999. The Clippers are owned by Donald Sterling
Donald Sterling
Donald T. Sterling is an American real estate mogul, attorney, and the owner of the National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Clippers. Sterling acquired the Clippers in 1981 for $12.5 million, and as of the 2008 rankings, the team is valued at $297 million by Forbes magazine, ranking them...
, and Mike Dunleavy, Sr.
Mike Dunleavy, Sr.
Michael Joseph Dunleavy is a retired American professional basketball player, former head coach, and former general manager of the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers. He is the father of Indiana Pacers player Mike Dunleavy, Jr.-Early life:...
is their general manager
General manager
General manager is a descriptive term for certain executives in a business operation. It is also a formal title held by some business executives, most commonly in the hospitality industry.-Generic usage:...
.
There have been 23 head coaches for the Clippers. The franchise's first head coach was Dolph Schayes
Dolph Schayes
Adolph "Dolph" Schayes is a retired American professional basketball player and coach in the NBA. A top scorer and rebounder, he was a member of the 1955 NBA champion Syracuse Nationals and a 12-time All-Star....
, who coached for eighty-three games in two seasons. Mike Dunleavy is the franchise's all-time leader in regular-season games coached (492) and regular-season games won (194); Jack Ramsay
Jack Ramsay
Jack T. Ramsay is an American former basketball coach, commonly known as "Dr. Jack" . He is best known for coaching the Portland Trail Blazers to the 1977 NBA Title, and for his broadcasting work with the Indiana Pacers, the Miami Heat, and for ESPN TV and ESPN Radio...
is the franchise's all-time leader in playoff games coached (22), and playoff games won (9). Ramsay, Larry Brown
Larry Brown (basketball)
Lawrence Harvey "Larry" Brown is an American basketball coach and former player. He most recently served as head coach of the National Basketball Association's Charlotte Bobcats....
, Bill Fitch, and Dunleavy are the only coaches to have reached the playoffs with the Clippers. Ramsay and Fitch were also named as two of the Top 10 Coaches in NBA History in 1996. Ramsay and Brown are the only Clippers coaches to have been elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach. Kim Hughes, the most recent head coach of the Clippers, was fired on April 15, 2010.
__FORCETOC__
Key
| GC | Games coached |
| W | Wins |
| L | Losses |
| Win% | Winning percentage Winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. It is defined as wins divided by wins plus losses . Ties count as a ½ loss and a ½ win... |
| # | Number of coaches |
| * | Spent entire NBA head coaching career with the Braves/Clippers |
| Elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach | |
Coaches
| # | Name | Term | GC | W | L | Win% | GC | W | L | Win% | Achievements | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||
| 11 | – | 83 | 22 | 61 | .265 | — | — | — | — | |||
| 22 | * | 81 | 22 | 59 | .272 | — | — | — | — | |||
| 33 | – | 328 | 158 | 170 | .482 | 22 | 9 | 13 | .409 | One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history (1996) | ||
| 44 | * | 46 | 16 | 30 | .348 | — | — | — | — | |||
| 55 | 7 | 3 | 4 | .429 | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 66 | 29 | 11 | 18 | .379 | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 77 | 82 | 27 | 55 | .329 | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 88 | – | 164 | 78 | 86 | .476 | — | — | — | — | |||
| 99 | – | 246 | 78 | 168 | .317 | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1010 | – | 143 | 52 | 91 | .364 | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1111 | – | 185 | 53 | 132 | .286 | — | — | — | — | |||
| 12— | – | 120 | 27 | 93 | .225 | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1312 | – | 126 | 41 | 85 | .325 | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1413 | – | 127 | 52 | 75 | .409 | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1514 | * | 2 | 1 | 1 | .500 | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1615 | – | 117 | 64 | 53 | .547 | 10 | 4 | 6 | .400 | |||
| 1716 | 82 | 27 | 55 | .329 | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1817 | – | 328 | 99 | 229 | .302 | 3 | 0 | 3 | .000 | One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history (1996) | ||
| 1918 | – | 95 | 20 | 75 | .211 | — | — | — | — | |||
| 2019 | * | 37 | 4 | 33 | .108 | — | — | — | — | |||
| 2120 | – | 222 | 89 | 133 | .401 | — | — | — | — | |||
| 2221 | * | 24 | 8 | 16 | .333 | — | — | — | — | |||
| 2322 | – | 541 | 215 | 326 | .397 | 12 | 7 | 5 | .583 | |||
| 2423 | 33 | 8 | 25 | .242 | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 2524 | –present | 82 | 32 | 50 | .380 | — | — | — | — | |||