List of Milwaukee Bucks head coaches
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The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball franchise based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They are a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team plays their home games at the Fiserv Forum. The Bucks are owned by Wes Edens and Marc Lasry, with Jon Horst as their general manager.
Since the team was formed in 1968, there have been 15 head coaches for the Bucks franchise.[1] The franchise won its first NBA championship in the 1971 NBA Finals under the leadership of its first coach, Larry Costello, and another in the 2021 NBA Finals under Coach Mike Budenholzer (the only other Bucks' coach other than Don Nelson to have won coach of the year).[2] Don Nelson is the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular season games coached (884), most regular season games won (540), most playoff games coached (88), and most playoff games won (42).[3] Nelson is also the only Bucks coach to win an NBA Coach of the Year Award while also being one of the top 10 coaches in NBA history.[3][4] Larry Krystkowiak and Joe Prunty are the only people to have spent their entire head coaching career with the Bucks.[5] Mike Dunleavy, Krystkowiak, and Scott Skiles have played and coached for the Bucks.[6][7][8] Skiles was the head coach of the Bucks from 2008 until he and the team mutually agreed to part ways in 2013.[9]
Key
| GC | Games coached |
| W | Wins |
| L | Losses |
| Win% | Winning percentage |
| # | Number of coaches[a] |
| * | Spent entire NBA head coaching career with the Bucks |
| † | Elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach |
Coaches
Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2025–26 season.
| # | Name | Term[b] | GC | W | L | Win% | GC | W | L | Win% | Achievements | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||
| 1 | Larry Costello | 1968–1976 | 674 | 410 | 264 | .608 | 60 | 37 | 23 | .617 | 1 Championship (1971) | [2] |
| 2 | Don Nelson† | 1976–1987 | 884 | 540 | 344 | .611 | 88 | 42 | 46 | .477 | NBA Coach of the Year (1983, 1985) One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[4] |
[3] |
| 3 | Del Harris | 1987–1991 | 345 | 191 | 154 | .554 | 21 | 6 | 15 | .286 | [10] | |
| 4 | Frank Hamblen | 1991–1992 | 65 | 23 | 42 | .354 | — | — | — | — | [11] | |
| 5 | Mike Dunleavy | 1992–1996 | 328 | 107 | 221 | .326 | — | — | — | — | [12] | |
| 6 | Chris Ford | 1996–1998 | 164 | 69 | 95 | .421 | — | — | — | — | [13] | |
| 7 | George Karl† | 1998–2003 | 378 | 205 | 173 | .542 | 32 | 14 | 18 | .438 | [14] | |
| 8 | Terry Porter | 2003–2005 | 164 | 71 | 93 | .433 | 5 | 1 | 4 | .200 | [15] | |
| 9 | Terry Stotts | 2005–2007 | 146 | 63 | 83 | .432 | 5 | 1 | 4 | .200 | [16] | |
| 10 | Larry Krystkowiak* | 2007–2008 | 100 | 31 | 69 | .310 | — | — | — | — | [5] | |
| 11 | Scott Skiles | 2008–2013 | 344 | 162 | 182 | .471 | 7 | 3 | 4 | .429 | [9] | |
| 12 | Jim Boylan | 2013 | 50 | 22 | 28 | .444 | 4 | 0 | 4 | .000 | [17] | |
| 13 | Larry Drew | 2013–2014 | 82 | 15 | 67 | .183 | － | － | － | .--- | [18] | |
| 14 | Jason Kidd | 2014–2018 | 291 | 139 | 152 | .478 | 12 | 4 | 8 | .333 | [19] | |
| 15 | Joe Prunty | 2018 | 37 | 21 | 16 | .568 | 7 | 3 | 4 | .429 | [20] | |
| 16 | Mike Budenholzer | 2018–2023 | 391 | 271 | 120 | .693 | 65 | 39 | 26 | .600 | NBA Coach of the Year (2019)[21] 1 Championship (2021) |
[22] |
| 17 | Adrian Griffin* | 2023–2024 | 43 | 30 | 13 | .698 | — | — | — | – | ||
| — | Joe Prunty | 2024 | 3 | 2 | 1 | .667 | — | — | — | – | ||
| 18 | Doc Rivers | 2024–2026 | 200 | 97 | 103 | .485 | 5 | 1 | 4 | .200 | ||
| 19 | Taylor Jenkins | 2026–present | — | — | — | – | — | — | — | – | [23] | |
Terry Porter was the head coach of the Bucks for two seasons.
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