List of Dallas Mavericks head coaches

The Dallas Mavericks are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. They play in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA).[1] The team joined the NBA in 1980 as an expansion team,[2] and won their first Western Conference championship in 2006.[3] The Mavericks have played their home games at the American Airlines Center since 2001.[4] The Mavericks are owned by Mark Cuban, and Nico Harrison is their general manager.[5]

Jason Kidd, the current Dallas Mavericks head coach since 2021

There have been nine head coaches for the Mavericks franchise. The franchise's first head coach was Dick Motta, who served for two non-consecutive stints, and coached for nine seasons with the Mavericks. Rick Carlisle is the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular-season games coached (961), the most regular season wins (513), the most regular-season losses (448), the most playoff games coached (64), and the most playoff wins (27). Avery Johnson is the franchise's all-time leader for the highest winning percentage in the regular season (.735). Don Nelson is named one of the top 10 coaches in NBA history.[6] Johnson led the Mavericks to the franchise's first Finals appearance in 2006, only to lose to the Miami Heat in six games.[3] Johnson is also the only Mavericks coach to have won the NBA Coach of the Year Award, having won it in the 2005–06 season.[7] Quinn Buckner and Jim Cleamons have spent their entire NBA coaching careers with the Mavericks. Only one of the Mavericks coaches, Don Nelson, has been elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach.[8] Rick Carlisle, who was the head coach of the Mavericks from 2008 to 2021, led the Mavericks to the franchise's first NBA Championship in its second Finals appearance, and defeated the Miami Heat in six games in the 2011 NBA Finals. Jason Kidd, a player in the Maverick's 2011 championship team, became coach in 2021 with the departure of Carlisle.

Key

GCGames coached
WWins
LLosses
Win%Winning percentage
#Number of coaches[a]
*Spent entire NBA head coaching career with the Mavericks
Elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach

Coaches

Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2023–24 season.

#NameTerm[b]GCWLWin%GCWLWin%AchievementsReference
Regular seasonPlayoffs
1Dick Motta19801987574267307.465281117.393[9]
2John MacLeod198719891759679.54917107.588[10]
3Richie Adubato1989199226494170.356303.000[11]
4Gar Heard1992–199353944.170[12]
5Quinn Buckner*1993–1994821369.159[13]
Dick Motta1994199616462102.378[9]
6Jim Cleamons*19961997982870.286[14]
7Don Nelson19972005590339251.575431924.442One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[6][15]
8Avery Johnson2005200826419470.735472324.4892005–06 NBA Coach of the Year[7]
2005–06 Western Conference championship[3]
[16]
9Rick Carlisle200820211033555478.537713338.4651 NBA Championship (2011)[17]
10Jason Kidd2021–present246140106.5691899.500[18]

Notes

  • a A running total of the number of coaches of the Mavericks. 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
  • "Dallas Mavericks Coach Register". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 8, 2008.
Specific