List of Houston Rockets head coaches
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. They are a member of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). They have played their home games at Toyota Center since 2003. Founded by Robert Breitbard in San Diego, the team first joined the NBA in 1967 as an expansion team.[1] After four losing seasons,[2] however, the team was sold to a group of investors based in Houston.[1] The group subsequently relocated the team to Houston, where the Rockets have remained for 37 seasons.[2] The franchise won its only two NBA titles in 1994 and 1995.[3]
There have been 15 head coaches for the Houston Rockets franchise. Jack McMahon, the team's first head coach, compiled a 61–129 record during his tenure.[4] Rudy Tomjanovich, who led the Rockets to their two championships, is the franchise's all-time leader in both regular-season and playoff games coached and wins.[5][3] Alex Hannum, Tex Winter, Kevin McHale, Bill Fitch, Rudy Tomjanovich and Rick Adelman have been enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.[6] Tom Nissalke, Don Chaney and Mike D'Antoni were named Coach of the Year during their tenures as head coaches. Both Tex Winter and Johnny Egan have spent their entire NBA head coaching careers with the Rockets.[7][8][9] Egan, Tomjanovich, and Rick Adelman formerly played for the Rockets.[10][11][12]
Key
[edit]GC | Games coached |
W | Wins |
L | Losses |
Win% | Winning percentage |
# | Number of coaches[a] |
* | Spent entire NBA head coaching career with the Rockets |
† | Elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach |
Coaches
[edit]Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2023–24 season.
# | Name | Term[b] | GC | W | L | Win% | GC | W | L | Win% | Achievements | Reference | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Regular season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||||
San Diego Rockets | |||||||||||||||
1 | Jack McMahon | 1967–1969 | 190 | 61 | 129 | .321 | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 | [4] | ||||
2 | Alex Hannum† | 1969–1971 | 138 | 58 | 80 | .420 | — | — | — | — | [6] | ||||
Houston Rockets | |||||||||||||||
3 | Tex Winter†* | 1971–1973 | 129 | 51 | 78 | .395 | — | — | — | — | [7] | ||||
4 | Johnny Egan* | 1973–1976 | 281 | 129 | 152 | .459 | 8 | 3 | 5 | .375 | [8] | ||||
5 | Tom Nissalke | 1976–1979 | 246 | 124 | 122 | .504 | 14 | 6 | 8 | .429 | 1976–77 NBA Coach of the Year[13] | [9] | |||
6 | Del Harris | 1979–1983 | 328 | 141 | 187 | .430 | 31 | 15 | 16 | .484 | [14] | ||||
7 | Bill Fitch† | 1983–1988 | 410 | 216 | 194 | .527 | 39 | 21 | 18 | .538 | One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[15] | [16] | |||
8 | Don Chaney | 1988–1992 | 298 | 164 | 134 | .550 | 11 | 2 | 9 | .182 | 1990–91 NBA Coach of the Year[13] | [17] | |||
9 | Rudy Tomjanovich† | 1992–2003 | 900 | 503 | 397 | .559 | 90 | 51 | 39 | .567 | 2 NBA championships (1994, 1995) | [3] | |||
10 | Jeff Van Gundy | 2003–2007 | 328 | 182 | 146 | .555 | 19 | 7 | 12 | .368 | [18] | ||||
11 | Rick Adelman† | 2007–2011 | 328 | 193 | 135 | .588 | 19 | 9 | 10 | .474 | 4th longest winning streak in NBA history | [19] | |||
12 | Kevin McHale | 2011–2015 | 323 | 193 | 130 | .598 | 29 | 13 | 16 | .448 | [20][21] | ||||
13 | J. B. Bickerstaff | 2015–2016 | 71 | 37 | 34 | .521 | 5 | 1 | 4 | .200 | [22] | ||||
14 | Mike D'Antoni | 2016–2020 | 318 | 217 | 101 | .682 | 51 | 28 | 23 | .549 | 2016–17 NBA Coach of the Year[23] | [24] | |||
15 | Stephen Silas* | 2020–2023 | 236 | 59 | 177 | .250 | — | — | — | — | [25] | ||||
16 | Ime Udoka | 2023–present | 82 | 41 | 41 | .500 | — | — | — | — | [26] |
-
Alex Hannum was the coach for the Rockets from 1969 to 1971.
-
Jeff Van Gundy was the coach for the Rockets from 2003 to 2007.
-
Kevin McHale was the head coach of the Rockets from 2011 to 2015.
-
Mike D'Antoni was the head coach of the Rockets from 2016 to 2020.
-
Ime Udoka is the current head coach of the Rockets since 2023.
Notes
[edit]- a A running total of the number of coaches of the Rockets. Thus, any coach who has two or more separate terms as head coach is only counted once.
- b Each year is linked to an article about that particular NBA season.
References
[edit]- General
- "Houston Rockets Coach Register". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on February 8, 2021. Retrieved May 17, 2008.
- "2008-09 Houston Rockets Media Guide" (PDF). NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 19, 2009. Retrieved November 12, 2008.
- Specific
- ^ a b "Owners, fans waited years before Rockets took off". Houston Chronicle. Hearst Newspapers. September 20, 2001. Archived from the original on May 4, 2010. Retrieved May 13, 2008.
- ^ a b "Houston Rockets". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on June 26, 2004. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
- ^ a b c "Rudy Tomjanovich Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on March 20, 2019. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
- ^ a b "Jack McMahon Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on June 2, 2011. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
- ^ "Houston Rockets Coach Register". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on February 8, 2021. Retrieved May 17, 2008.
- ^ a b "Alex Hannum Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on March 23, 2019. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
- ^ a b "Tex Winter Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on August 7, 2011. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
- ^ a b "Johnny Egan Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
- ^ a b "Tom Nissalke Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on March 9, 2011. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
- ^ "Johnny Egan Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 3, 2010. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
- ^ "Rudy Tomjanovich Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on May 12, 2013. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
- ^ "Rick Adelman Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on June 16, 2010. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
- ^ a b "Coach of the Year". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on September 15, 2010. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
- ^ "Del Harris Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on March 9, 2011. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
- ^ "Top 10 Coaches in NBA History". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on February 9, 2012. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
- ^ "Bill Fitch Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 14, 2009. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
- ^ "Don Chaney Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
- ^ "Jeff Van Gundy Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on August 3, 2011. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
- ^ "Rick Adelman Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on March 1, 2011. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
- ^ "Kevin McHale Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on February 1, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2012.
- ^ Joseph, Adi (18 November 2015). "Kevin McHale fired as coach of 4-7 Houston Rockets, report says". Sporting News. Archived from the original on 26 October 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
- ^ "J.B. Bickerstaff Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
- ^ Maloney, Jack (27 June 2017). "NBA Awards: Houston Rockets' Mike D'Antoni wins 2016-17 Coach of the Year". CBS Sports. Archived from the original on 12 April 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
- ^ "Mike D'Antoni Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on October 4, 2011. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
- ^ "Stephen Silas Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on May 17, 2021. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
- ^ "Ime Udoka Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on November 23, 2021. Retrieved April 26, 2022.