List of Milwaukee Bucks head coaches

The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball franchise based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They are a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team plays their home games at the Fiserv Forum. The Bucks are owned by Wes Edens and Marc Lasry, with Jon Horst as their general manager.

Since the team was formed in 1968, there have been 15 head coaches for the Bucks franchise.[1] The franchise won its first NBA championship in the 1971 NBA Finals under the leadership of its first coach, Larry Costello, and another in the 2021 NBA Finals under Coach Mike Budenholzer (the only other Bucks' coach other than Don Nelson to have won coach of the year).[2] Don Nelson is the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular season games coached (884), most regular season games won (540), most playoff games coached (88), and most playoff games won (42).[3] Nelson is also the only Bucks coach to win an NBA Coach of the Year Award while also being one of the top 10 coaches in NBA history.[3][4] Larry Krystkowiak and Joe Prunty are the only people to have spent their entire head coaching career with the Bucks.[5] Mike Dunleavy, Krystkowiak, and Scott Skiles have played and coached for the Bucks.[6][7][8] Skiles was the head coach of the Bucks from 2008 until he and the team mutually agreed to part ways in 2013.[9]

Key

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

Coaches

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

# Name Term[b] GC W L Win% GC W L Win% Achievements Reference
Regular season Playoffs
1 Larry Costello 1968–1976 674 410 264 .608 60 37 23 .617 1 Championship (1971) [2]
2 Don Nelson† 1976–1987 884 540 344 .611 88 42 46 .477 NBA Coach of the Year (1983, 1985)
One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[4] 		[3]
3 Del Harris 1987–1991 345 191 154 .554 21 6 15 .286 [10]
4 Frank Hamblen 1991–1992 65 23 42 .354 — — — — [11]
5 Mike Dunleavy 1992–1996 328 107 221 .326 — — — — [12]
6 Chris Ford 1996–1998 164 69 95 .421 — — — — [13]
7 George Karl†⁸ 1998–2003 378 205 173 .542 32 14 18 .438 [14]
8 Terry Porter 2003–2005 164 71 93 .433 5 1 4 .200 [15]
9 Terry Stotts 2005–2007 146 63 83 .432 5 1 4 .200 [16]
10 Larry Krystkowiak* 2007–2008 100 31 69 .310 — — — — [5]
11 Scott Skiles 2008–2013 344 162 182 .471 7 3 4 .429 [9]
12 Jim Boylan 2013 50 22 28 .444 4 0 4 .000 [17]
13 Larry Drew 2013–2014 82 15 67 .183 － － － .--- [18]
14 Jason Kidd 2014–2018 291 139 152 .478 12 4 8 .333 [19]
15 Joe Prunty 2018 37 21 16 .568 7 3 4 .429 [20]
16 Mike Budenholzer 2018–2023 391 271 120 .693 65 39 26 .600 NBA Coach of the Year (2019)[21]
1 Championship (2021) 		[22]
17 Adrian Griffin* 2023–2024 43 30 13 .698 — — — –
— Joe Prunty 2024 3 2 1 .667 — — — –
18 Doc Rivers 2024–present 36 17 19 .472 — — — –

Notes

  • a A running total of the number of coaches of the Milwaukee Bucks. 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
  • "Milwaukee Bucks Coach Register". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on December 22, 2008. Retrieved November 8, 2008.
Specific
  1. ^ "Season Records & Recaps". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on November 6, 2008. Retrieved November 8, 2008.
  2. ^ a b "Larry Costello Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on March 23, 2019. Retrieved November 8, 2008.
  3. ^ a b c "Don Nelson Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on May 19, 2011. Retrieved November 8, 2008.
  4. ^ a b "Top 10 Coaches in NBA History". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on February 9, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2008.
  5. ^ a b "Larry Krystkowiak Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on October 10, 2008. Retrieved November 8, 2008.
  6. ^ "Mike Dunleavy Playing Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on February 17, 2011. Retrieved November 8, 2008.
  7. ^ "Larry Krystkowiak Playing Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on December 19, 2019. Retrieved November 8, 2008.
  8. ^ "Scott Skiles Playing Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on October 16, 2008. Retrieved November 8, 2008.
  9. ^ a b "Scott Skiles Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on October 4, 2011. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
  10. ^ "Del Harris Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on March 9, 2011. Retrieved November 8, 2008.
  11. ^ "Frank Hamblem Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on July 1, 2008. Retrieved November 8, 2008.
  12. ^ "Mike Dunleavy Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on June 1, 2008. Retrieved November 8, 2008.
  13. ^ "Chris Ford Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on November 8, 2008. Retrieved November 8, 2008.
  14. ^ "George Karl Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on November 24, 2010. Retrieved November 8, 2008.
  15. ^ "Terry Porter Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on July 28, 2011. Retrieved November 8, 2008.
  16. ^ "Terry Stotts Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on December 1, 2008. Retrieved November 8, 2008.
  17. ^ "Jim Boylan Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
  18. ^ "Larry Drew Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on November 1, 2010. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  19. ^ "Bucks name Jason Kidd coach". ESPN.com. July 1, 2014. Archived from the original on June 30, 2016. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
  20. ^ Woods, Mark. "Joe P Game for One Final Family Trip". MVP. Archived from the original on 16 September 2017. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  21. ^ "Coach of the Year". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on September 15, 2010. Retrieved January 26, 2009.
  22. ^ "Mike Budenholzer Named Head Coach Of The Milwaukee Bucks". NBA.com. May 17, 2018. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved May 17, 2018.