Who's The Greatest Coach In Milwaukee Bucks 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 high points of the Milwaukee Bucks’ history can be traced to two generational stars who dominated the center position.

In the 70s, it was a freak athlete by the name of Lew Alcindor who spearheaded the Bucks’ dominance, winning the first NBA title of his storied career and making the name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar a household name. 50 years later, Giannis Antetokounmpo had NBA fans saying “Greek Freak” with his own extraordinary athleticism and championship campaign in 2021.

These two competitors deserve the spotlight, but props should also be given to the coaches who steered the franchise to heights of excellence. These, of course, include the tacticians who guided Abdul-Jabbar and Antetokounmpo along the way.

The very first head coach in Bucks history was Larry Costello, whose stint with the team lasted from 1968 to 1976. With Abdul-Jabbar and his fellow legend Oscar Robertson stuffing the stat sheets, Costello (a six-time All-Star during his own playing years) was able to lead Milwaukee to the 1971 NBA championship.

Costello’s successor was unable to bring the Bucks back to the Finals, but he pulled off impressive records of his own. Don Nelson holds the distinction of being the only Bucks mentor to win the NBA Coach of the Year Award on two separate occasions. Nelson, who coached the team from 1976 to 1987, is also the longest-tenured Bucks head coach, as well as the winningest Bucks coach ever in terms of both regular-season and playoff victories.

A half-century after Costello won the big one with Kareem and the Big O, Mike Budenholzer led the Bucks back to the mountaintop. In a span of two years, Budenholzer became the second Bucks mentor to win Coach of the Year and a first-time champion head coach who won alongside Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday, and Khris Middleton.

All three of these men have legitimate claims, but the nod goes to Costello. He took an expansion team to the NBA’s summit within the first three years of its existence, and to this day, he has the best winning percentage in the playoffs. For these reasons, Costello can be considered the greatest Bucks coach ever.