The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf and Billy Donovan is the current head coach. They play their home games in the United Center. The Bulls first joined the NBA in the 1966–67 season as an expansion team. Coached by Johnny Kerr, the team finished its first season with a 33–48 record, the best record achieved by an expansion team in its first year of play, and secured a playoff berth.[1] The Bulls won their first NBA championship in the 1991 NBA Finals while coached by Phil Jackson.[1] They won five additional NBA championships in the 1990s under Jackson.[1]
There have been 21 head coaches for the Bulls franchise. Phil Jackson is also the franchise's all-time leader in regular season games coached, regular season games won, playoff games coached, and playoff games won.[2] Jackson and Jerry Sloan are the only Bulls coaches to have been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach.[2][3] Kerr, Dick Motta, Jackson, and Thibodeau have won NBA Coach of the Year with the team.[4] Ed Badger, Bill Berry, Bill Cartwright, Pete Myers and Jim Boylan have all spent their entire NBA head coaching careers with the Bulls.[5][6][7][8][9] Sloan, Cartwright, and Myers formerly played for the Bulls.[10][11][12]
| GC | Games coached |
| W | Wins |
| L | Losses |
| Win% | Winning percentage |
| # | Number of coaches[a] |
| * | Spent entire NBA head coaching career with the Bulls |
| † | Elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach |
Note: Statistics are correct through April 13, 2024.
| # | Name | Term[b] | GC | W | L | Win% | GC | W | L | Win% | Achievements | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||
| 1 | Johnny Kerr | 1966–1968 | 163 | 62 | 101 | .380 | 8 | 1 | 7 | .125 | 1966–67 NBA Coach of the Year | [13] |
| 2 | Dick Motta | 1968–1976 | 656 | 356 | 300 | .543 | 47 | 18 | 29 | .383 | 1970–71 NBA Coach of the Year | [14] |
| 3 | Ed Badger* | 1976–1978 | 164 | 84 | 80 | .512 | 3 | 1 | 2 | .333 | [5] | |
| 4 | Larry Costello | 1978–1979 | 56 | 20 | 36 | .357 | — | — | — | — | [15] | |
| 5 | Scotty Robertson | 1979 | 26 | 11 | 15 | .423 | — | — | — | — | [16] | |
| 6 | Jerry Sloan† | 1979–1982 | 215 | 94 | 121 | .437 | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 | [3] | |
| 7 | Phil Johnson | 1982 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 | — | — | — | — | [17] | |
| 8 | Rod Thorn | 1982 | 30 | 15 | 15 | .500 | — | — | — | — | [18] | |
| 9 | Paul Westhead | 1982–1983 | 82 | 28 | 54 | .341 | — | — | — | — | [19] | |
| 10 | Kevin Loughery | 1983–1985 | 164 | 65 | 99 | .396 | 4 | 1 | 3 | .250 | [20] | |
| 11 | Stan Albeck | 1985–1986 | 82 | 30 | 52 | .366 | 3 | 0 | 3 | .000 | [21] | |
| 12 | Doug Collins | 1986–1989 | 246 | 137 | 109 | .557 | 30 | 13 | 17 | .433 | [22] | |
| 13 | Phil Jackson | 1989–1998 | 738 | 545 | 193 | .738 | 152 | 111 | 41 | .730 | 1995–96 NBA Coach of the Year 6championships (1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998) One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[23] |
[2] |
| 14 | Tim Floyd | 1998–2001 | 239 | 49 | 190 | .205 | — | — | — | — | [24] | |
| 15 | Bill Berry* | 2001 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .000 | — | — | — | — | [6] | |
| 16 | Bill Cartwright* | 2001–2003 | 151 | 51 | 100 | .336 | — | — | — | — | [7] | |
| 17 | Pete Myers* | 2003 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .000 | — | — | — | — | [8] | |
| 18 | Scott Skiles | 2003–2007 | 337 | 165 | 172 | .490 | 22 | 10 | 12 | .455 | [25] | |
| — | Pete Myers* | 2007 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 | — | — | — | — | [8] | |
| 19 | Jim Boylan | 2007–2008 | 56 | 24 | 32 | .429 | — | — | — | — | [9] | |
| 20 | Vinny Del Negro | 2008–2010 | 164 | 82 | 82 | .500 | 12 | 4 | 8 | .333 | [26] | |
| 21 | Tom Thibodeau | 2010–2015 | 394 | 255 | 139 | .647 | 51 | 23 | 28 | .451 | 2010–11 NBA Coach of the Year | [27] |
| 22 | Fred Hoiberg* | 2015–2018 | 270 | 115 | 155 | .426 | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 | [28] | |
| 23 | Jim Boylen* | 2018–2020 | 123 | 39 | 84 | .317 | — | — | — | – | [29] | |
| 24 | Billy Donovan | 2020–present | 317 | 156 | 162 | .491 | 5 | 1 | 4 | .200 | [30] | |
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