An innovative, beloved, and prolific head coach, he retired as the all-time NBA wins leader; prior to that, he was a five-time champ as a player in the ’60s and ’70s
FEATURED LISTS
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss: 22 NBA coaches who had multiple stints with the same franchise
Cold comfort: 18 NBA Coach of the Year winners whose team made an early playoff exit
Role reversal: 17+ memorable NBA playoff game-winning shots by non-star players
Surprise and advance: 15 significant upsets in NBA first round playoff series
Lucky charms: Ranking the 37 players who won a championship as Bill Russell’s Celtics teammate
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Cold comfort: 18 NBA Coach of the Year winners whose team made an early playoff exit
Being named Coach of the Year is one of the premier honors for NBA coaches but doesn’t mean much if it coincides with playoff disappointment
Thanks for your service, we got it from here: 13 NBA coaches fired mid-season with a winning record
The pressure is on more than ever for NBA coaches, even successful ones, but the habit of firings during winning seasons is hardly new, as can be attested by the coaches on this list
Larry Bird isn’t walking through that door: 14 successful NCAA coaches who struggled at the NBA level
The transition from NCAA stardom to NBA success has proven difficult for most players but it’s been even more problematic for most coaches. We detail 14 such examples below.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss: 22 NBA coaches who had multiple stints with the same franchise
Following their firing, re-signing, retiring, or demotion, these 22 coaches came back to the same NBA franchise a second time, often inexplicably and usually with diminishing returns.
Role reversal: 17+ memorable NBA playoff game-winning shots by non-star players
There’s few things more exciting than a superstar like Michael Jordan or Damian Lillard clinching a playoff game with a buzzer beater, but there’s also something immensely satisfying and unexpected about role players getting their moment to shine on the league’s biggest stage.
Surprise and advance: 15 significant upsets in NBA first round playoff series
The “Cinderellas” of the NBA, these teams shocked the world in the first round of the playoffs, then moved on to mixed success in the succeeding round.
Lucky charms: Ranking the 37 players who won a championship as Bill Russell’s Celtics teammate
When you win 11 NBA titles in 13 seasons as Bill Russell did, you don’t just earn a lot of hardware for yourself, you also help fill up the trophy cases of plenty of teammates.