Phil Jackson – 11 titles

Jackson is the winningest head coach in NBA history, and it’s hard to imagine any coach in league history ever coming close to him at this 11-title mark. Jackson achieved this 11-title tally with two franchises, the Chicago Bulls (six titles) and the Los Angeles Lakers (five titles). Plus, he had the pleasure of coaching some of the best players in league history, such as Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, among others.

Red Auerbach – 9 titles

Thanks to his role in the Boston Celtics ‘ dynasty, Auerbach was the winningest head coach in league history for a prolonged stretch. The first great head coach in NBA history, Auerbach led Boston to nine titles between the 1956-57 and 1965-66 seasons. He was active as a head coach for 20 years, from 1946 to 1966, and he retired as a champion.

John Kundla – 5 titles

Kundla is not often mentioned in the same sphere as other top-notch head coaches in NBA history, such as Jackson, Auerbach, Pat Riley, Gregg Popovich and others. However, he co-rounds out the podium as the third head coach with the most titles in NBA history. Kundla led the Minneapolis Lakers to five titles between the 1948-49 and 1953-54 seasons, and he retired after the end of the 1958-59 campaign.

Pat Riley – 5 titles

Riley ties Kundla in titles in NBA history, but unlike Kundla, who won all five titles in a short period, Riley did it in different decades. He won four titles with the “Showtime” Los Angeles Lakers between the 1981-82 and 1987-88 seasons, and then he’d wait nearly 20 years to win another title. His fifth one, however, was with the Miami Heat in the 2005-06 campaign, a team carried by none other than a future Hall of Famer in Dwyane Wade. Riley remains active but is no longer a head coach, and now he holds a front-office role with the Heat.

Greg Popovich – 5 titles

Popovich was active as a head coach until the early stages of the 2024-25 season, when health-related problems forced him to leave the San Antonio Spurs midway through the campaign, and it’s been decided he’ll no longer be a head coach, instead transitioning to a front-office role. Popovich won five titles with the Spurs in three different decades, leading San Antonio to titles in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014 while giving key roles to players such as David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard over that stretch.

Steve Kerr – 4 titles

One of the best head coaches in the modern era, Kerr is one of many head coaches who could be considered as Gregg Popovich’s disciples, and the former point guard, who also won titles as a player, has won four NBA titles as a head coach. All four of his titles have come with the Golden State Warriors. He did it in the 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2022 NBA Finals, with the likes of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Kevin Durant as prominent figures among that span. He remains the Warriors’ head coach and lost in the second round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs against the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games.

Chuck Daly – 2 titles

Daly spent 14 years as an NBA head coach, but he had his most productive stretch as the head coach of the Detroit Pistons. He won back-to-back titles with the Motor City franchise in the 1988-89 and 1989-90 seasons.

Alex Hannum – 2 titles

Continuing the list of NBA head coaches with two titles, we have Hannum, who had a 12-year career as a head coach in The Association between the 1956-57 and 1970-71 seasons, although with brief stops in between. He was a champion with the St. Louis Hawks (1958-59) and the Philadelphia 76ers (1967-68).

Tom Heinsohn – 2 titles

Heinsohn won two titles in three seasons with the Boston Celtics, between the Bill Russell and Larry Bird eras. Heinsohn won in the 1973-74 and 1975-76 seasons with John Havlicek as his standout performer.

Red Holzman – 2 titles

Holzman spent 18 years as an NBA head coach across three different decades, but he lived his best moments as part of the New York Knicks. He guided them to two NBA titles in the 1969-70 and the 1972-73 seasons.

K.C. Jones – 2 titles

Jones is the third of four Boston head coaches who won at least two titles with the franchise. He was the architect behind the 80s Celtics team that won two titles with Larry Bird as their go-to player, alongside Robert Parish and Kevin McHale. Jones won titles with Boston in the 1983-84 and 1985-86 seasons.

Bill Russell – 2 titles

Russell was not only a standout player for the Celtics — he also won two titles with the franchise as a player/head coach in the latter stages of his career. He won titles under the head coach label with Boston in the 1967-68 and 1968-69 campaigns.

Rudy Tomjanovich – 2 titles

Tomjanovich had a long 13-year career as an NBA head coach and won two titles with the Houston Rockets in back-to-back seasons: 1993-94 and 1994-95. He won both titles between the Chicago Bulls’ three-peat, as Houston was the champion in the two years when Michael Jordan had retired.

Erik Spoelstra – 2 titles

Spoelstra is one of two active head coaches on this list, with Steve Kerr being the other. The Miami Heat coach, who’s also the longest-tenured head coach in the NBA right now, won both titles with the South Beach franchise. He won back-to-back titles with the Big Three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh in the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons.