The Top Three Head Coaches in Mavericks History
The Dallas Mavericks entered the NBA in 1980 and to date have been through nine head coaches. The team won their first title in 2011. Though no Dallas coach has been inducted into the Hall-Of-Fame, the best coaches to ever lead the Mavericks are Don Nelson, Avery Johnson and Rick Carlisle.
No. 3: Don Nelson (1997 – 2005)
Don Nelson has the most regular season wins with the Mavericks at 339. He was able to win over 57% of the 590 games he coached. His success didn’t translate over to the postseason. In the playoffs, he had 19 wins and 24 losses, accumulating a 44% success rate in the playoffs. In spite of all the regular season success Nelson was able to bring Dallas, he is going to be remembered for his inability to get his team to play their best in the postseason.
No. 2: Avery Johnson (2005 – 2008)
Avery Johnson led the Mavericks to a franchise record 46 playoff games. Johnson finished with 23 playoff wins which is tied for the most postseason wins in Mavericks history. Johnson won 73.5% of the games he coached in Dallas, which is the highest mark forany Dallas coach. Johnson coached the Mavericks to their first NBA Finals in 2006 where they were eliminated by the Miami Heat. In his four seasons with the Mavericks he led the team to four consecutive seasons with 50-play wins in the regular season. Johnson became the fastest coach in NBA history to win 100 games and 150 games. In the two seasons fafter the Mavericks lost to the Heat in the Finals, Johnson couldn’t get Dallas past the 1st round of the playoffs.
No. 1: Rick Carlisle (2008 – Present)
Rick Carlisle got the chance to face the Miami Heat in a re-match of the 2006 NBA Finals in 2011. He steered Dallas to their first NBA Championship in the team’s history. Carlisle took over the head coaching job after the team made a decision to let go of Johnson in 2008. In 246 games with the Mavericks, Carlisle helped Dallas win 66% of their regular season games and a sensational 62% in the playoffs. If you bet the NBA, you know Carlisle’s Mavericks have been a great team to back since he took over the team. Carlisle needs only one additional playoff win to become the franchise leader, as he currently is tied with Johnson at 23.
The top three head coaches in franchise history are the last three to be hired. This is a testament of the direction in which the front office is going and they have done a superb job in guaranteeing the ideal individual is in charge of their players for the last 12 seasons. The Dallas Mavericks have Rick Carlisle to thank for finally bringing an NBA Championship to Dallas, making him the best coach in team history.
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Written by Jack Jones on February 14th, 2012 with
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