List of Cleveland Cavaliers head coaches

Current head coach Tyronn Lue

The Cleveland Cavaliers are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The Cavaliers play in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team joined the NBA in 1970 as an expansion team and won their first Eastern Conference championship in 2007.^[1] The Cavaliers have played their home games at the Quicken Loans Arena, formerly known as Gund Arena, since 1994.^[2] The Cavaliers are owned by Dan Gilbert, with David Griffin as their general manager.^[3] American R&B-pop singer Usher Raymond is a minority owner.^[4]

There have been 19 head coaches for the Cavaliers franchise. The franchise's first head coach was Bill Fitch, who coached for nine seasons. Fitch is the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular-season games coached (738);^[5] Lenny Wilkens is the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular-season game wins (316); Mike Brown is the franchise's all-time leader for the most playoff games coached (71), the most playoff-game wins (42), and the highest regular-season winning percentage (.620).^[6] Chuck Daly and Wilkens are the only Cavaliers coaches to have been elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach.^[6][7] Fitch and Daly were also named one of the top 10 coaches in NBA history.^[8] Fitch and Brown are the only Cavaliers coaches to have won the NBA Coach of the Year Award.^[9] Don Delaney spent his entire NBA coaching careers with the Cavaliers.^[10]

Key

After coaching the Cavaliers for 41 games (with a 9–32 record), Chuck Daly was dismissed during the 1981–82 season.^[11][12][13]

GC	Games coached
W	Wins
L	Losses
Win%	Winning percentage
#	Number of coaches^[a]
*	Spent entire NBA head coaching career with the Cavaliers
	Elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach

Coaches

Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2015–16 season.

#	Name	Term^[b]	GC	W	L	Win%	GC	W	L	Win%	Achievements	Reference
			Regular season				Playoffs
1	Fitch, BillBill Fitch	1970–1979	738	304	434	.412	18	7	11	.389	1975–76 NBA Coach of the Year[9] One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[8]	[5]
2	Albeck, StanStan Albeck	1979–1980	82	37	45	.451	—	—	—	—		[14]
3	Musselman, BillBill Musselman	1980–1981	71	25	46	.352	—	—	—	—		[15]
4	Delaney, DonDon Delaney*	1981	26	7	19	.269	—	—	—	—		[10]
5	Kloppenburg, BobBob Kloppenburg	1981	3	0	3	.000	—	—	—	—		[16]
6	Daly, ChuckChuck Daly	1981–1982	41	9	32	.220	—	—	—	—	One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[8]	[7]
—	Musselman, BillBill Musselman	1982	15	4	11	.267	—	—	—	—		[15]
7	Nissalke, TomTom Nissalke	1982–1984	164	51	113	.311	—	—	—	—		[17]
8	Karl, GeorgeGeorge Karl	1984–1986	149	61	88	.409	4	1	3	.250		[18]
9	Littles, GeneGene Littles	1986	15	4	11	.267	—	—	—	—		[19]
10	Wilkens, LennyLenny Wilkens	1986–1993	574	316	258	.551	41	18	23	.439	One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[8]	[6]
11	Fratello, MikeMike Fratello	1993–1999	460	248	212	.539	14	2	12	.143		[20]
12	Wittman, RandyRandy Wittman	1999–2001	164	62	102	.378	—	—	—	—		[21]
13	Lucas, JohnJohn Lucas	2001–2003	124	37	87	.298	—	—	—	—		[22]
14	Smart, KeithKeith Smart	2003	40	9	31	.225	—	—	—	—		[23]
15	Silas, PaulPaul Silas	2003–2005	146	69	77	.473	—	—	—	—		[24]
16	Malone, BrendanBrendan Malone	2005	18	8	10	.444	—	—	—	—		[25]
17	Brown, MikeMike Brown	2005–2010	410	272	138	.663	71	42	29	.592	Eastern Conference Championship (2007)[1] 2008–09 NBA Coach of the Year[9]	[26]
18	Scott, ByronByron Scott	2010–2013	230	64	166	.278	—	—	—	—		[27]
—	Brown, MikeMike Brown	2013–2014	82	33	49	.402	—	—	—	—		[26]
19	Blatt, DavidDavid Blatt	2014–2016	113	83	40	.675	20	14	6	.700	Eastern Conference Championship (2015)
20	Lue, TyronnTyronn Lue	2016–present	41	27	14	.659	21	16	5	.762	NBA championships (2016)

• 
  Lenny Wilkens was the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers from 1986 to 1993.
• 
  Two-time head coach Mike Brown who led the Cavaliers from 2005 to 2010, and again during the 2013–14 season. During his first stint, he led the Cavs to their first NBA Finals appearance in 2007.
• 
  Byron Scott was the head coach of the Cavaliers from 2010 to 2013. During the 2010–2011 season, the Cavs lost 26 games in a row - tied for the longest losing streak in the four major professional sports.
• 
  David Blatt led the Cavaliers head coach from 2014–2016.

Notes

• ^a A running total of the number of coaches of the Cavaliers. 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

General

• "Year-By-Year Finish and Coaching Records". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved November 29, 2008.
• "Cleveland Cavaliers Coach Register". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 29, 2008.

Specific

1. "2006-07 Cleveland Cavaliers Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
2. "Gund Arena to be renamed Quicken Loans Arena". ESPN.com. August 2, 2005. Retrieved November 29, 2008.
3. "Executive Bios and Directory". NBA.com. Cleveland Cavaliers. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
4. Davis, Carolyn E. (February 25, 2005). "Usher About To Become Part-Owner Of Cleveland Cavaliers". MTV. Retrieved November 30, 2008.
5. "Bill Fitch Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
6. "Lenny Wilkens Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
7. "Chuck Daly Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
8. "Top 10 Coaches in NBA History". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive. Retrieved November 29, 2008.
9. "Coach of the Year". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved November 29, 2008.
10. "Don Delaney Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
11. "Daly, "Chuck" (Charles J.)". hickoksports.com. Retrieved December 2, 2008.
12. "Chuck Daly Biography". Hit! Run! Score!, Inc. Retrieved December 2, 2008.
13. Bill Nichols. "Activist Stepien Axes Daly, March 27, 1982". The Sporting News. Retrieved December 2, 2008.
14. "Stan Albeck Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
15. "Bill Musselman Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
16. "Bob Kloppenburg Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
17. "Tom Nissalke Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
18. "George Karl Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
19. "Gene Littles Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
20. "Mike Fratello Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
21. "Randy Wittman Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
22. "John Lucas Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
23. "Keith Smart Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
24. "Paul Silas Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
25. "Brendan Malone Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
26. "Mike Brown Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
27. "Byron Scott Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 18, 2012.