The Winningest Coaches in NBA History

Gregg Popovich is the winningest coach in NBA history, with about 1,390 regular-season victories, all with the San Antonio Spurs. Don Nelson is second with 1,335 wins, and Popovich took the record from him in March 2022.

Career coaching wins reward longevity and consistency more than any single season, so this leaderboard reads like a list of the sport’s most durable leaders. Here is the full ranking of the NBA’s winningest coaches, the careers behind the numbers, and where the active chasers stand. All figures are as of the 2025 season.

The record holder: Gregg Popovich and about 1,390 wins

Gregg Popovich spent his entire head-coaching career with the San Antonio Spurs, a stability almost unheard of in modern sports. Over nearly three decades he turned the franchise into a model of consistency, making the playoffs 22 straight times, winning five championships, and piling up wins at a steady clip that eventually carried him past every coach in history.

Popovich passed Don Nelson in March 2022 and kept adding to his total until a health scare led him to step away from the bench in 2025. His roughly 1,390 wins, paired with his titles, give him a rare combination of volume and success.

The full leaderboard of the winningest NBA coaches

The table below ranks retired coaches by career regular-season wins. Active coaches are addressed separately below.

Rank	Wins	Coach	Best-known team
1	~1,390	Gregg Popovich	Spurs
2	1,335	Don Nelson	Warriors, Mavericks
3	1,332	Lenny Wilkens	SuperSonics
4	1,221	Jerry Sloan	Jazz
5	1,210	Pat Riley	Lakers, Heat
6	1,175	George Karl	SuperSonics, Nuggets
7	1,155	Phil Jackson	Bulls, Lakers
8	1,098	Larry Brown	Pistons, 76ers
9	1,042	Rick Adelman	Kings, Rockets
10	944	Bill Fitch	Celtics, Rockets

The names span every era of the modern NBA, from Wilkens and Fitch in the 1970s to Popovich and Rivers in the 2020s.

Nelson, Wilkens and the near-misses

Don Nelson and Lenny Wilkens, separated by just three wins, are the great examples of coaching longevity without a title haul. Nelson, an innovator credited with popularizing small-ball lineups, never won a championship as a coach, while Wilkens won just one, in 1979 with Seattle. Their placement near the top shows how total wins measure endurance as much as postseason glory. For the title side of coaching, see our leaderboard of the most NBA championships by a coach.

The active chase: Doc Rivers

Doc Rivers leads active coaches, having pushed past 1,150 regular-season wins over stints with five franchises. That is enough to place him inside the all-time top 10, though he remains well behind Popovich. Steve Kerr and Erik Spoelstra are also climbing but sit lower on the career list. For the players these coaches guided, see our ranking of the greatest NBA players.

Why the record matters

To win nearly 1,400 games, a coach must survive the constant turnover of the profession while keeping a team competitive across generations of players. That is why Popovich’s total, built over one long tenure in San Antonio, may prove as durable as any record in basketball. For a cross-sport comparison, see our leaderboard of the most wins by an NFL coach and the most NBA championships by team.

The short version: Gregg Popovich is the winningest NBA coach ever with about 1,390 regular-season wins, ahead of Don Nelson (1,335) and Lenny Wilkens (1,332). As of the 2025 season, Doc Rivers leads the active coaches chasing the all-time list.