Gregg Popovich coach 95 Consistently exceeded expectations especially in later years with diminished rosters. Small market franchise stayed competitive for 20+ years. Phil Jackson coach 92 .704 career win percentage. Consistently exceeded expectations even with roster turmoil (Kobe-Shaq, late-career Lakers). Pat Riley coach 88 .636 career coaching win percentage. Led three different franchises to the Finals. Showtime Lakers exceeded even lofty expectations. 4 Steve Kerr coach 85 .672 win percentage. Took over a good team and made them historically great. But had extraordinary talent to work with. 5 Jerry Sloan coach 82 1,221 career wins. Consistently exceeded expectations in a small market with limited free agent appeal. 5 Red Holzman coach 82 Consistently overachieved with team-oriented Knicks rosters that lacked dominant superstar 7 Erik Spoelstra coach 80 Strong win percentage. Led the Big Three to back-to-back titles and consistently overperforms with post-LeBron rosters. 8 Chuck Daly coach 78 Strong win percentage with Pistons. Exceeded expectations by turning a physical team into champions against more talented opponents. 9 Don Nelson coach 75 1,335 career wins (most at retirement). Won with limited talent through innovation. Consistent overachiever. 9 Tom Thibodeau coach 75 Consistently squeezed maximum wins from rosters; 62-win Bulls exceeded expectations 11 Jack Ramsay coach 72 Got the most out of Portland and later rebuilding teams; overperformed with less talent 11 Ime Udoka coach 72 Celtics went from first-round exit to Finals in year 1; significant overperformance vs expectations 11 Quinn Snyder coach 72 Jazz consistently overperformed market size and roster talent; #1 seed in 2021 11 Larry Brown coach 72 .527 career win percentage. Coached 8 different NBA teams. Won a championship with a team no one expected to win. 15 Kenny Atkinson coach 70 Nets were expected to be awful during rebuild; significantly exceeded expectations 16 Doc Rivers coach 68 .528 career win percentage. 2008 championship was expected with KG/Allen/Pierce. Underperformed with Clippers talent. 16 Stan Van Gundy coach 68 Got strong results from Orlando rosters; Detroit tenure was poor with bad roster 18 Terry Stotts coach 62 Portland consistently made playoffs in tough West; met expectations with Lillard-led teams 19 Monty Williams coach 55 64-win Suns met expectations with loaded roster; Pistons historic losing tanked this 20 Brett Brown coach 48 Inherited historically bad rosters during Process; won 50+ when talent arrived as expected 21 Darvin Ham coach 45 Met rough expectations with aging Lakers roster; not significantly over or underperforming 22 Rick Pitino coach 42 Knicks tenure showed ability; Celtics were historically bad under him 23 Sergio Scariolo coach 40 Spain consistently overperformed in FIBA; NBA sample too small to evaluate 24 Mike Montgomery coach 35 Warriors and Kings were struggling franchises; did not significantly exceed expectations 25 Tom Izzo coach 25 No NBA tenure to evaluate; college record is exceptional but not applicable here