6. Mike D’Antoni (BKN-assistant coach) – 54 Playoff Wins
Currently the assistant coach for the Brooklyn Nets, D’Antoni is already an old hand in the postseason. He started his coaching career in Italy and entered the NBA as an assistant coach for the Denver Nuggets in 1997.
For the 1998 season, he was promoted as Denver’s head coach but had one of the worst seasons of his career after winning only 14 games out of a 50-game season. He stepped down afterward but his coaching brilliance was already noticed by team scouts.
He was tapped by the Phoenix Suns in 2003 to be its head coach and led the team to the playoffs in his second year. Eventually, D’Antoni coached the Knicks, Lakers, and Rockets. All teams went to the playoffs by his guidance. After the 2020 season, he and the Houston Rockets parted ways.
D’Antoni is a two-time recipient of the Coach of the Year award (2005, 2017). A strict offensive-style coach, he puts emphasis on three point shooting and small ball press for faster paced games. Pick and rolls were a deadly offensive arsenal on his sleeves.
Having top-quality guards such as Steve Nash and James Harden helped him establish high-caliber offenses in the NBA.
5. Rick Carlisle (DAL) – 63 Playoff Wins
The head of the Mavericks herd for the past 13 years, Rick Carlisle led three teams to the playoffs. He coached in 2001 in Detroit. The team was inches away from the NBA Finals but lost in the Conference Finals in 2002.
He left Detroit and took the driver seat for Indiana where he steered the team to the Conference Finals, but fell short again. That was back-to-back Conference Finals appearances for two different teams.
This feat alone influenced NBA managers to take notice of him. In 2008, he was chosen to coach his present team, the Dallas Mavericks.
Carlisle is a master in terms of team management. He wants everyone to be part of the team, specifically in scoring. He is notorious for benching players who are in the zone sometimes, but this is his form of experimenting with certain rotations and also prevent injuries.
His centerpiece has always been Dirk Nowitzki for a long time. Their system triumphed in the 2011 NBA Finals, bagging Dirk, Rick, and the Mavericks their first and only championship.
