The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf and Billy Donovan is the current head coach. They play their home games in the United Center. The Bulls first joined the NBA in the 1966–67 season as an expansion team. Coached by Johnny Kerr, the team finished its first season with a 33–48 record, the best record achieved by an expansion team in its first year of play, and secured a playoff berth.[1] The Bulls won their first NBA championship in the 1991 NBA Finals while coached by Phil Jackson.[1] They won five additional NBA championships in the 1990s under Jackson.[1]

There have been 21 head coaches for the Bulls franchise. Phil Jackson is also the franchise's all-time leader in regular season games coached, regular season games won, playoff games coached, and playoff games won.[2] Jackson and Jerry Sloan are the only Bulls coaches to have been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach.[2][3] Kerr, Dick Motta, Jackson, and Thibodeau have won NBA Coach of the Year with the team.[4] Ed Badger, Bill Berry, Bill Cartwright, Pete Myers and Jim Boylan have all spent their entire NBA head coaching careers with the Bulls.[5][6][7][8][9] Sloan, Cartwright, and Myers formerly played for the Bulls.[10][11][12]

Key

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

Coaches

Note: Statistics are correct through April 13, 2025.

# Name Term[b] GC W L Win% GC W L Win% Achievements Reference
Regular season Playoffs
1 Johnny Kerr 1966–1968 163 62 101 .380 8 1 7 .125 1966–67 NBA Coach of the Year [13]
2 Dick Motta 1968–1976 656 356 300 .543 47 18 29 .383 1970–71 NBA Coach of the Year [14]
3 Ed Badger* 1976–1978 164 84 80 .512 3 1 2 .333 [5]
4 Larry Costello 1978–1979 56 20 36 .357 — — — — [15]
5 Scotty Robertson 1979 26 11 15 .423 — — — — [16]
6 Jerry Sloan† 1979–1982 215 94 121 .437 6 2 4 .333 [3]
7 Phil Johnson 1982 1 0 1 .000 — — — — [17]
8 Rod Thorn 1982 30 15 15 .500 — — — — [18]
9 Paul Westhead 1982–1983 82 28 54 .341 — — — — [19]
10 Kevin Loughery 1983–1985 164 65 99 .396 4 1 3 .250 [20]
11 Stan Albeck 1985–1986 82 30 52 .366 3 0 3 .000 [21]
12 Doug Collins 1986–1989 246 137 109 .557 30 13 17 .433 [22]
13 Phil Jackson 1989–1998 738 545 193 .738 152 111 41 .730 1995–96 NBA Coach of the Year
6 championships (1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998)
One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[23] 		[2]
14 Tim Floyd 1998–2001 239 49 190 .205 — — — — [24]
15 Bill Berry* 2001 2 0 2 .000 — — — — [6]
16 Bill Cartwright* 2001–2003 151 51 100 .336 — — — — [7]
17 Pete Myers* 2003 2 0 2 .000 — — — — [8]
18 Scott Skiles 2003–2007 337 165 172 .490 22 10 12 .455 [25]
— Pete Myers* 2007 1 0 1 .000 — — — — [8]
19 Jim Boylan 2007–2008 56 24 32 .429 — — — — [9]
20 Vinny Del Negro 2008–2010 164 82 82 .500 12 4 8 .333 [26]
21 Tom Thibodeau 2010–2015 394 255 139 .647 51 23 28 .451 2010–11 NBA Coach of the Year [27]
22 Fred Hoiberg* 2015–2018 270 115 155 .426 6 2 4 .333 [28]
23 Jim Boylen* 2018–2020 123 39 84 .317 — — — – [29]
24 Billy Donovan 2020–present 400 200 205 .494 5 1 4 .200 [30]

Notes

References

General
Specific
  1. "Chicago Bulls History". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012.
  2. "Phil Jackson Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on February 11, 2011.
  3. "Jerry Sloan Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on May 27, 2020.
  4. "Coach of the Year". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on September 15, 2010.
  5. "Ed Badger Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on July 20, 2008.
  6. "Bill Berry Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on July 20, 2008.
  7. "Bill Cartwright Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on September 6, 2010.
  8. "Pete Myers Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on July 20, 2008.
  9. "Jim Boylan Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on January 17, 2013.
  10. "Jerry Sloan Playing Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on May 31, 2020.
  11. "Bill Cartwright Playing Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on September 27, 2010.
  12. "Pete Myers Playing Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on July 9, 2008.
  13. "Red Kerr Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on March 9, 2011.
  14. "Dick Motta Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on March 23, 2019.
  15. "Larry Costello Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on March 23, 2019.
  16. "Scotty Robertson Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on January 17, 2013.
  17. "Phil Johnson Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on February 10, 2011.
  18. "Rod Thorn Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on July 20, 2008.
  19. "Paul Westhead Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on February 25, 2011.
  20. "Kevin Loughery Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on August 5, 2011.
  21. "Stan Albeck Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on May 16, 2017.
  22. "Doug Collins Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on September 6, 2010.
  23. "Top 10 Coaches in NBA History". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on January 19, 2010.
  24. "Tim Floyd Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on June 3, 2008.
  25. "Scott Skiles Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on October 4, 2011.
  26. "Vinny Del Negro Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on December 23, 2008.
  27. "Tom Thibodeau Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011.
  28. "Fred Hoiberg Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on July 26, 2021.
  29. "Jim Boylen Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on December 4, 2018.
  30. "Billy Donovan Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on December 28, 2021.