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NBA: Greatest head coach in each team’s franchise history

By Josh Cornelissen

Gregg Popovich, Manu Ginobili, San Antonio Spurs. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
Gregg Popovich, Manu Ginobili, San Antonio Spurs. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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Rick Adelman, Portland Trail Blazers
Rick Adelman, Portland Trail Blazers. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

Greatest head coach in Portland Trail Blazers history: Rick Adelman, 1988-94

The Portland Trail Blazers got off to a slow start as a franchise, finishing with a losing record each of their first six seasons in the league. Then under head coach Jack Ramsay, they made it into the postseason, all the way to an NBA title in his first season as coach in 1977.

It seemed like Ramsey and star center Bill Walton would lead the team back to the NBA Finals multiple times, but Walton’s injury issues held the team back from being consistently great. Even so, Ramsay tallied 453 wins during his time with the team, the most in franchise history.

Over the next few decades, several other head coaches saw success in Portland, with Mike Schuler, Rick Adelman, Mike Dunleavy and Terry Stotts all posting win percentages of at least .567 with the team. Of the group, Adelman stands out as the most successful.

In a Western Conference ruled by the Los Angeles Lakers and stocked with other strong teams such as the Houston Rockets and the Phoenix Suns, the Trail Blazers under Adelman still managed to fight their way to the NBA Finals twice in 1990 and 1992.

While they lost both times to famous teams — the “Bad Boy” Detroit Pistons and Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls, respectively — the Trail Blazers fought a lot of good teams to get there each time out of the Western Conference.

Portland won 65 percent of its regular-season games while Adelman was the coach. He is the only Portland coach with an above-.500 winning percentage in the postseason. He totaled a franchise-high 36 postseason wins during his six seasons with the team. That postseason success earns him the spot as the greatest head coach in Trail Blazers history.