Who's The Greatest Coach In Cleveland Cavaliers History?

In this series, we’ll take a look at the illustrious list of head coaches in each NBA franchise’s history. To make a case for ‘greatest coach,’ we’ll look at win-loss record, player development, and (most importantly) team accomplishments under that coach’s tutelage.

The Cleveland Cavaliers franchise can be viewed in two ways: as a perennial playoff contender or an unfortunate bridesmaid who has struck out far too many times.

In 1976, just six years after entering the NBA, the Cavs made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, only to succumb to the Boston Celtics dynasty. Cleveland continued to make waves in the 80s, but they landed on the wrong side of history as one of the most replayed clips in NBA history is Cavs guard Craig Ehlo falling victim to “The Shot” by Michael Jordan.

MJ made Cleveland cry that night, but decades later, the Cavaliers would host the rise of another GOAT candidate when they drafted LeBron James. After a bitter parting of ways in 2010, James would return to Cleveland and make good on his promise to deliver a championship to the city.

Through it all, a remarkable list of head coaches had a front row seat to the Cavs’ fortunes. Given the dramatic history of Cleveland in the NBA, the discussion of the Cavs’ greatest coach ever is a vigorous debate.

Lenny Wilkens has the second longest tenure as Cavs head coach. During his stint in Cleveland, he led the team to five playoff trips, reaching the second round twice and making one Eastern Conference Finals appearance. Brad Daugherty and Mark Price flourished as All-Stars under Wilkens’ tutelage; and future champion coach Steve Kerr picked up some pointers as well.

When LeBron James began his third season in the NBA, the Cavs signed Mike Brown to take over the mantle of head coach. Brown, an offensive specialist, led the Cavs to five consecutive appearances in the postseason. Each time, they reached the second round at minimum; in 2007, they went all the way to the NBA Finals.

Brown fell short of bringing a championship to Cleveland, though. It wasn’t until 2016 that LBJ finally won a title with the Cavs, and the coach by his side was Ty Lue. A member of the Lakers dynasty in the 2000s, Lue navigated the larger-than-life personalities on his Cavs roster and helped the team pull off an impressive comeback from a 1-3 series deficit in the NBA Finals.

Lue gets the nod as the greatest coach in Cavaliers history. Though Wilkens and Brown have impressive win-loss records in the regular season, three straight Finals appearances (including a championship win in Lue’s very first season as head coach) is nothing to sneeze at.