Toronto Raptors: How Do Nick Nurse’s First Two Seasons Stack Up Against the All-Time Greats?

Five Hall of Famers

Don Nelson: 1335-1063 (.557)  regular-season record (most wins all-time), 75-91 (.452) playoff record, 3x NBA Coach of the Year (1983 & 1985 with Milwaukee, 1992 with Golden State), 2x All-Star Game head coach (1992, 2002)

First Two Seasons (1976-1978): 71-75 (.486) regular season record, 5-4 (.556) playoff record

Nelson took over for Larry Costello 19 games into a trying 1976-77 season for the Milwaukee Bucks. In his first full season in 1977-78, Milwaukee’s record improved by 14 wins under Nelson’s watch and the Bucks grabbed the second seed in the Midwest Division.

Across 31 seasons as a head coach with Milwaukee, Golden State, New York, and Dallas, Nelson would go on to claim the NBA’s all-time regular-season win title and win three Coach of the Year awards.

Jerry Sloan: 1221-803 (.603) regular season record (fourth-most wins all-time), 98-104 (.485) playoff record, Lost in 1997 & 1998 NBA Finals

First Two NBA Seasons (1979-1981): 75-89 (.457) regular-season record, 2-4 (.333) playoff record

Before he was in Utah and running Stockton and Malone pick and rolls, Sloan had a very forgettable three-year stint with the pre-Jordan Bulls from 1979-82.

Lenny Wilkens: 1332-1155 (.536) regular-season record (second most wins all-time), 80-98 (.449) playoff record,1979 NBA Champion (Seattle), 1994 Coach of the Year (Atlanta), 4x AllStar Game head coach (1979, 1980, 1989, 1994)

First Two Seasons (1969-1971): 74-90 regular-season record (.451), did not make playoffs

In his first three-year stint in Seattle, Wilkens and the Supersonics failed to make the playoffs. After two years in Portland, Wilkens returned to Seattle in 1977 and won the 1979 championship with a core of Jack Sikma, Dennis Johnson, and Gus Williams.

Pat Riley: 1210-694 (.636) regular-season record  (fourth-most wins all-time), 171-111 (.606) all-time playoff record, 5x NBA Champion (1982, 1985, 1987, 1988 with Lakers & 2006 with Miami), 3x NBA Coach of the Year (1990 with the Lakers, 1993 with New York, 1997 with Miami), 9× NBA All-Star Game head coach (1982, 1983, 1985–1990, 1993)

First Two Seasons (1981-1983): 108-45 regular-season record (.706), 20-9 (.690) playoff record, 1982 NBA Champion, Lost in 1983 NBA Finals, 2x All-Star Game head coach

The fifth rookie coach to ever win an NBA title, Pat Riley walked into a pretty favorable position with four Hall of Famers playing on that 1982 Lakers title team.

Winning has since followed Riley everywhere, just count the rings for proof. Four championship rings as the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, one 2006 ring as the president and head coach of the Shaq and Wade Miami Heat, and two more rings as the president of the Lebron-era “Heatles”.

Phil Jackson: 1155-485 (.704) regular-season record (seventh-most all-time), 229-104 (.688) playoff record, 11× NBA champion (1991–1993, 1996–1998 with Chicago and 2000–2002, 2009–2010 with the Lakers), 1996 NBA Coach of the Year, 4× NBA All-Star Game head coach (1992, 1996, 2000, 2009)

First Two Seasons (1989-1991): 116-48 (.707) regular-season record, 25-8 (.758) playoff record, 1991 NBA Champion

After the 1988-89 season, Michael Jordan and the Bulls failed to get past the Detroit Pistons for a second straight year under coach Doug Collins’ watch. Collins was fired and his assistant Phil Jackson was promoted to the head coaching position and the rest is history. “The Zen Master” has since won eleven championships as a head coach which is the NBA record.