The Best San Antonio Spurs Coaches of All Time

Ranker NBA
Updated July 2, 2022 321 votes 102 voters
Over 100 Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of The Best San Antonio Spurs Coaches of All Time

Who are the best San Antonio Spurs coaches of all time? Everything's bigger in Texas, including the personalities on and off the basketball court. Just take the San Antonio Spurs - the team has boasted some incredible leadership over the years. The top Spurs coaches come in many forms. Some great leaders on this best to worst Spurs coaches list prioritized defense, while other former Spurs head coaches developed genius offensive plays. Many of the best San Antonio Spurs coaches were once players themselves. Who is the best San Antonio Spurs coach of all time? Which Spurs head coaches do you love?

The GOAT Spurs coach is definitely 5x NBA Finals champion Gregg Popovich. Larry Brown led the Spurs to the playoffs several times during his tenure as head coach from 1988-1992. Bob Hill is another popular coach of the San Antonio Spurs. Jerry Tarkanian made his mark on the San Antonio Spurs as the head coach in 1992. 

Vote up the San Antonio Spurs coaches of all time, and help us decide the best Spurs head coaches ever.

Ranked by
  • Gregg Popovich
    1

    1996 -

    Gregg Charles Popovich (born January 28, 1949) is an American professional basketball coach and general manager. He is the head coach and President of the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and head coach of USA national team. Taking over as coach of the Spurs in 1996, Popovich is the longest tenured active coach in both the NBA and all major sports leagues in the United States. He is often called "Coach Pop" or simply "Pop."Popovich has the most wins in NBA history (regular season and playoffs), surpassing Lenny Wilkens and Don Nelson on April 13, 2019. He has led the Spurs to a winning record in each of his 22 full seasons as head coach, surpassing Phil Jackson for the most consecutive winning seasons in NBA history. During his tenure, the Spurs have had a winning record against every other NBA team. Popovich has led the Spurs to all five of their NBA titles, and is one of only five coaches in NBA history to have won five titles.
  • Larry Brown
    2

    Larry Brown

    30 votes

    1988-1992

    Lawrence Harvey Brown (born September 14, 1940) is a former American basketball coach and player who was most recently the head coach for Auxilium Torino of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and EuroCup Basketball. Brown is the only coach in basketball history to win both an NCAA national championship (Kansas Jayhawks, 1988) and an NBA title (Detroit Pistons, 2004). He has a 1,275-965 lifetime professional coaching record in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) and is the only coach in NBA history to lead eight teams to the playoffs. He also won an ABA championship as a player with the Oakland Oaks in the 1968–69 season, and an Olympic Gold Medal in 1964. He is also the only person ever to coach two NBA franchises in the same season (Spurs and Clippers during the 1991–92 NBA season). Before coaching, Brown played collegiately at the University of North Carolina and professionally in the ABA. Brown was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach on September 27, 2002. Although widely considered one of the greatest coaches in basketball history, he has developed a reputation for constantly looking for better coaching opportunities and frequently switching teams or programs before the expiration of his contract.
  • Stan Albeck
    3

    Stan Albeck

    17 votes

    1980-1983

    Charles Stanley Albeck (born May 17, 1931) is a former professional basketball coach. Albeck has coached for several teams in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA), including the Denver Rockets, the San Diego Conquistadors, (often subbing for an absent Wilt Chamberlain), the Cleveland Cavaliers, the San Antonio Spurs, the New Jersey Nets, and the Chicago Bulls.
  • Bob Hill
    4

    Bob Hill

    20 votes

    1994-1996

    Robert W. Hill (born November 24, 1948) is an American basketball coach. Hill grew up in Mount Sterling, Ohio, moving to Worthington, Ohio for high school. Hill attended Bowling Green State University.
  • Doug Moe
    5

    Doug Moe

    13 votes

    1976-1980

    Douglas Edwin Moe (born September 21, 1938) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. As a head coach with the Denver Nuggets in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he was named the NBA Coach of the Year in 1988.
  • Tom Nissalke
    6

    Tom Nissalke

    13 votes

    1971-1972, 1973-1974

    Thomas Edward Nissalke (July 7, 1932 – August 22, 2019) was an American professional basketball coach in the National Basketball Association and American Basketball Association. He coached several teams in both leagues, and had an overall coaching record of 371–508.