List of Toronto Raptors head coaches

The Raptors have played their home games at Scotiabank Arena (formerly the Air Canada Centre) since 1999.

The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto, Ontario. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Raptors are the only Canadian-based NBA team.[1] The team joined the NBA in 1995 as an expansion team with the Vancouver Grizzlies (which relocated to Memphis, Tennessee in 2001).[2] The Raptors first played their home games at the SkyDome (now known as the Rogers Centre), before moving to Scotiabank Arena (formerly the Air Canada Centre) in 1999, where they have played since. The Raptors are owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment and Bobby Webster is their general manager.[3][4]

There have been ten head coaches for the Raptors franchise. The franchise's first head coach was Brendan Malone, who coached for one season. Dwane Casey is the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular-season games coached (397) and the most regular-season game wins (210). Casey is the franchise's all-time leader for the most playoff games coached (51), as well as the most playoff-game wins (21).

Lenny Wilkens is the only Raptors coaches to have been elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach.

Sam Mitchell, Dwane Casey and Nick Nurse are the only Raptors coaches to have won the NBA Coach of the Year Award, having won it in the 2006–07 season, 2017–18 season, and 2019-20 season respectively.[5][6]

Butch Carter, Kevin O'Neill, and Jay Triano have spent their entire NBA head coaching careers with the Raptors. Triano was the interim head coach of the Raptors since Mitchell was fired.[7][8] Triano is the first Canadian head coach in NBA history.[9]

Nick Nurse is the only Raptors coach to have won an NBA Championship with the team (2018–19 NBA season) and holds the franchise's highest winning percentage in the regular season (.707) and playoffs (.667).

Key

[edit]
GC Games coached
W Wins
L Losses
Win% Winning percentage
# Number of coaches[a]
* Spent entire NBA head coaching career with the Raptors
Elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach

Coaches

[edit]

Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2023–24 season.

# Name Term[b] GC W L Win% GC W L Win% Achievements Reference
Regular season Playoffs
1 Brendan Malone 1995–1996 82 21 61 .256 [10]
2 Darrell Walker 19961997 131 41 90 .313 [11]
3 Butch Carter* 19972000 165 73 92 .442 3 0 3 .000 [12]
4 Lenny Wilkens 20002003 246 113 133 .459 17 8 9 .471 One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[13] [14]
5 Kevin O'Neill* 2003–2004 82 33 49 .402 [15]
6 Sam Mitchell 20042008 345 156 189 .452 11 3 8 .273 2006–07 NBA Coach of the Year[5] [16]
7 Jay Triano 20092011 229 87 142 .380 [17]
8 Dwane Casey 20112018 558 320 238 .573 51 21 30 .412 2017–18 NBA Coach of the Year [18]
9 Nick Nurse 20182023 390 227 163 .582 41 25 16 .610 NBA champion (2019)
2019–20 NBA Coach of the Year
[19]
10 Darko Rajaković 2023–present 82 25 57 .305 [20]

Notes

[edit]
  • a A running total of the number of coaches of the Raptors. Thus, any coach who has two or more separate terms as head coach is only counted once.
  • b Each year is linked to an article about that particular NBA season.

References

[edit]
General
  • "Toronto Raptors Coach Register". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved July 20, 2008.
Specific
  1. ^ "Teams". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on June 21, 2019. Retrieved December 22, 2008.
  2. ^ "Grizzlies History". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved December 4, 2008.
  3. ^ "Laying the Groundwork for the NBA in Toronto". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved December 22, 2008.
  4. ^ "Management". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved December 22, 2008.
  5. ^ a b "Coach of the Year". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on December 18, 2008. Retrieved December 22, 2008.
  6. ^ release, Official. "Toronto Raptors coach Dwane Casey named NBCA Coach of the Year". NBA.com. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  7. ^ "Toronto Raptors Coach Register". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved July 20, 2008.
  8. ^ "Mitchell Relieved Of Duties, Jay Triano Takes Over On Interim Basis". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. December 3, 2008. Retrieved December 22, 2008.
  9. ^ "Struggling Raptors fire Mitchell just 17 games into season". ESPN.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. December 4, 2008. Retrieved December 22, 2008.
  10. ^ "Brendan Malone Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved July 20, 2008.
  11. ^ "Darrell Walker Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved July 20, 2008.
  12. ^ "Butch Carter Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved July 20, 2008.
  13. ^ "Top 10 Coaches in NBA History". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive. Archived from the original on January 19, 2010. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
  14. ^ "Lenny Wilkens Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved July 20, 2008.
  15. ^ "Kevin O'Neill Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved July 20, 2008.
  16. ^ "Sam Mitchell Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved July 20, 2008.
  17. ^ "Jay Triano Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved April 23, 2009.
  18. ^ "Dwane Casey Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved July 21, 2011.
  19. ^ "Nick Nurse Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  20. ^ "Darko Rajaković Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved June 13, 2023.