In 1970 the Portland Trail Blazers officially joined the NBA. To this date the Trail Blazers have had a total of 12 head coaches. They have only one NBA Championship which they achieved in 1977. Portland has had some great head coaches during the team's history. The top three coaches are Mike Dunleavy, Rick Adelman and Jack Ramsay.
Mike Dunleavy (1997 - 2001)
As the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, Mike Dunleavy won Coach of the Year during the 1998-99 season. He is just one of two coaches to win the award in Portland. Dunleavy has a winning percentage of (.642), which ranks second on the Blazer's All Time list. He coached the team for 296 regular season games, plus an additional 36 playoff games where he won and lost the same amount of games. Coach Dunleavy led the Trail Blazers to four straight playoff appearances which include two trips to the Western Conference finals.
Rick Adelman (1988 - 1994)
Rick Adelman led the Blazers to two NBA Finals. The first was in 1990 against the Detroit Pistons and the second in 1992 against the Chicago Bulls. Unfortunately, Coach Adelman efforts in both finals fell just short. He holds the record for most playoff games coached at 69 and the highest playoff winning percentage at (.522). Of the 69 playoff games he coached, he won 36 of them and lost 33. He coached the team for 445 regular season games, with a winning percentage of (.654), the highest in Blazer's history.
Jack Ramsay (1976 - 1986)
Jack Ramsay coached the Blazers for exactly a decade. His coaching career with the Blazers ended with a regular season winning percentage of (.552) and playoff winning percentage of (.492). Coach Ramsay inspired the Blazers to their very first winning record of 49-33 and brought Portland to their first ever NBA Finals appearance in which his players did not fail to bring home the Championship. The 1977 Portland Trail Blazers rallied back from a 0-2 deficit to win four straight games over the Philadelphia 76ers. Many believe it is one of the biggest NBA Finals upsets in NBA history.
The coach was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992 and is rated as one of the top 10 coaches in NBA history. Ramsay led the Trail Blazers to nine playoff appearances in ten seasons. Ramsay retired as the NBA's coach with the second most wins with at 864, a record which was shattered by the likes of Phil Jackson a decade later. His legacy has been imprinted into coaching history and will survive for all of eternity.
Jack Ramsay's records and the fact that he is the only coach to lead the Trail Blazers to an NBA Championship are accomplishments that you can't overlook. He is without question the best head coach in franchise history.
