SECTION 27 - The Five Greatest Coaches of All-Time

When making all-time lists and rankings in basketball, we usually focus on players and teams, but I thought it would be interesting to take a different approach and rank the five greatest coaches of all-time in NBA history. When ranking players, I do consider the number of championships as the best player to be an important factor, but with coaches we have to take a different approach. 

Some may bring up the fact that 30 of 70 NBA Championship teams were directed by only 4 different coaches - Phil Jackson, Gregg Popovich, Pat Riley, and Red Auerbach and use this to emphasize the value of coaching on championship teams. However, one can also bring up that all of these coaches also had the luxury of having incredible players in each of their championship teams - Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Dwyane Wade, Bill Russell, and other very important secondary and tertiary pieces. 

It is extremely rare to find a coach that directed a championship team without having great individual talent to help him out, so one can definitely make a very strong case that these players had much more to do with their coaches' all-time ranking than vice versa. Coaches do have some influence over how their players execute the team's offensive and defensive system, but at the end of the day it's still the players who are most responsible for how successful the team is. Championships will of course have to be taken into consideration, but not with the same weight as when ranking players who were the leaders of championship or Finals teams. 

With that being said, let's get started

Honorable Mention 1: Red Auerbach

I do not consider Auerbach to be important enough to his teams' success in order to be considered one of the five greatest coaches of all-time. Bill Russell still led the Celtics to 2 more championships as player-coach without Auerbach in 1968 and 1969. It's also important to note that Russell and the Celtics' supporting cast had aged by a lot in those last 2 title runs, with Russell and Sam Jones retiring immediately after the 1969 Finals. 

Russell had less to work with than Auerbach, as he had to fill in the coaching void and Russell himself was aging and continuing to pass his prime. Russell had to take over the duty of both the best player and head coach, and won 2 more championships while playing under the 3-round playoff format, whereas 8 of Auerbach's 9 coaching titles came under the easier 2-round playoff format, and with a younger, prime Russell to aid him under those easier circumstances. 

Lastly, it's very important to remember that the Celtics lost the 1958 Finals when Bill Russell was injured, against a Hawks team that they beat in 1957 when Russell was healthy. The one time that Russell was hurt, Auerbach couldn't adjust and make up for his absence in spite of the numerous Hall of Fame teammates the Celtics had. Russell, on the other hand, proved he could win multiple titles without Auerbach, even as his career was coming to a close.

Honorable Mention 2: Alex Hannum

An interesting fact is that Alex Hannum coached the only two teams that defeated Bill Russell's Celtics in a playoff series. The 1958 Hawks, led by Bob Pettit, defeated Russell's Celtics in the Finals, though as mentioned earlier they benefited from Russell's injury. This is the main reason I do not consider Hannum to be a top 5 all-time coach, because his first championship came under very fortunate circumstances, on top of the 1950s being a much easier era to begin with.

Another notable accomplishment in Hannum's coaching career is the 1961 Syracuse Nationals' upset of Wilt Chamberlain's Philadelphia Warriors in the first round of the playoffs. The Nationals only had a 38-41 record in the season, but swept Wilt's Warriors 3-0 before losing to the Celtics in 5. Hannum coached Wilt Chamberlain for the first time in 1964, and this was also Wilt's first Finals appearance as the Warriors lost the 1964 Finals, to the Celtics of course.

The 1967 Sixers were also led by Chamberlain and coached by Hannum. They are the only team to defeat a healthy Bill Russell in a playoff series, and this is the only time that Wilt beat Russell in the playoffs as well. Alex Hannum was very instrumental in developing Wilt Chamberlain into a more team-oriented player for this 1967 title run, although the Celtics would get revenge by eliminating the Sixers in the 1968 EDF after coming back from down 3-1. Hannum would cap off his resume with a 1969 ABA Championship while coaching the Oakland Oaks.

Honorable Mention 3: Red Holzman

The 1970 and 1973 Knicks are some of the more forgotten NBA championship teams, but Red Holzman definitely deserves a lot of credit for his role in the only two championships in Knicks' franchise history. The Knicks defeated Wilt and Jerry West's Lakers in both the 1970 and 1973 Finals, with Baylor also playing for the Lakers in the 1970 Finals. In between these two championships, the Knicks under Holzman made it to Game 7 of the 1971 ECF, where they lost to the Unseld and Hayes-led Bullets, as well as the 1972 Finals where they lost to Wilt and West's Lakers. 

However, it's important to note that the Knicks' best player Willis Reed did not play in the 1972 Playoffs due to a knee injury. It is very impressive that the Knicks were able to reach the Finals in Reed's absence in 1972, and Holzman's coaching definitely had a lot to do with it. Phil Jackson, who played under Holzman, stated that Red was his inspiration for becoming a coach. In spite of Holzman's impressive coaching record with the Knicks, I still feel there are 5 other coaches who had more impressive resumes. This will hopefully be made more clear as we now begin the real list.

5. Chuck Daly

The 1989 and 1990 Pistons are somewhat overlooked as they were caught in the middle of the Magic/Bird Era and the Jordan Era, but they were two of the most dominant championship teams of all-time. Outside of Jordan's Bulls, no team posed a threat to the Bad Boy Pistons in the playoffs, as the Pistons went 22-2 against non-Jordan teams in 1989 and 1990. The Pistons may even have ended up with a 3-peat if not for the infamous phantom foul at the end of Game 6 in the 1988 Finals. 

The Pistons under Daly were the only teams to beat Bird's Celtics (1988), Magic's Lakers (1989), and Jordan's Bulls (1988-1990) in a playoff series, beating the three biggest names of the 80/90s era and their respective teams. In 1989, the Pistons went 15-2 in the playoffs under Daly, tied for the 4th-best playoff record along with the 1991 Bulls and 1999 Spurs. If we only include teams under the 4-round format, this would exclude the 12-1 1983 Sixers and give the 1989 Pistons, 1991 Bulls, and 1999 Spurs the 2nd-best playoff record behind the 15-1 Lakers in 2001 and 16-1 Warriors in 2017.

The sheer dominance of the Pistons in
their two title runs was unprecedented. Nobody
besides Jordan's Bulls could put up a fight
against them, and the Pistons were one call
away from a potential 3peat

Daly's Pistons made 3 consecutive Finals from 1988 to 1990 and 5 straight ECF from 1987 to 1991. It's also worth noting that Isiah Thomas was shut down by Jordan in all 4 of the Pistons-Bulls playoff meetings from 1988 to 1991, but the Pistons still won 3 of those 4 playoff series. 

This was due to a combination of how great the Pistons supporting cast was and their ability to make up for Thomas' struggles, the Bulls lack of help outside of Jordan, and Daly's ability as a coach to turn these factors into advantages for his team. Daly also of course coached the 1992 Dream Team in the Olympics when they won gold, though this was also probably the most stacked basketball team in history.

After leaving the Pistons, however, Daly did not have much success as a coach, as the 1993 and 1994 Nets and 1999 Magic lost in the first round under him. The dominance that the Pistons enjoyed under Daly on top of the stacked competition they faced is enough to warrant Daly a spot as a top 5 coach of all-time, despite its relative brevity. However, the remaining 4 coaches remained successful for longer periods of time, although most of them benefited from far more individual talent, which is a consistent theme amongst the winningest coaches in NBA history. 

4. Pat Riley

Pat Riley is best known for coaching Magic Johnson's Showtime Lakers from 1982 to 1990, during which the Lakers made 7 NBA Finals, winning four of them. During the 90s, Pat Riley did a very good job coaching the Knicks, but they ultimately couldn't get it done when playing against Jordan and Hakeem. With the Heat in the late 90s, Riley had mixed success. The Heat made the 1997 ECF under Riley, only to lose to Jordan's Bulls for the second year in a row, but were then upset in the first round by the 7-seed and 8-seed Knicks in both 1998 and 1999. Riley capped off his coaching career with a fifth championship in 2006, while Dwyane Wade was carrying the Heat past the Mavericks in the 2006 Finals.

Riley's ability to maintain his coaching success for a longer period of time than Daly is the main reason he has the edge on the all-time coaching list. Riley did coach much better individual talent, but his longevity over three different decades is quite remarkable, on top of his five championships. However, there are a few reasons why Riley falls short of a top 3 spot on this list.

The Lakers did benefit from a very easy
conference for most of Riley's tenure

First, the Western Conference was very easy during the Showtime Lakers championship and Finals runs. The Lakers beat 0 50+ win teams to make the 1982, 1984, and 1987 Finals for example, and this is while they were led by the greatest point guard in NBA history. In most years, the Showtime Lakers didn't face much resistance until they made the Finals, though you do have to credit them for winning most of those Finals against stacked teams such as the Sixers, Celtics, and Pistons.

Secondly, all of Riley's teams proved they could be successful and contend for championships without him. The 1980 Lakers won the championship with coach Paul Westhead replacing Jack McKinney midseason during Magic's rookie year. After the 1990 Lakers under Riley were upset in the WCSF by Kevin Johnson's Suns, he stepped down and Mike Dunleavy coached the 1991 team. The 1991 Lakers made the Finals after losing in the 2nd Round the previous year, improving after Riley's departure. 

Under Jeff Van Gundy, the 1998 and 1999 Knicks also upset Pat Riley's Heat despite being the 7 and 8-seeds in those respective years. Ewing did not even play in the 1998 series, but the Knicks still upset Riley's heavily favored Heat. The Knicks also reached the 1999 Finals as the 8-seed despite Ewing's injury in the ECF against the Pacers. The Knicks would upset Riley's Heat for the 3rd year in a row in the 2000 ECSF, beating them in Game 7 in Miami and advancing to the 2000 ECF. 

In all 3 of these series, Riley's Heat had home-court advantage and were still upset by his former team. The fact that the Knicks upset Riley 3 years in a row and advanced to the NBA Finals and another ECF with a declining roster shows that they were more than capable of achieving Playoff success without his coaching. For 5 consecutive years from 1996-2000, the Knicks won at least 1 Playoff series even after Riley's departure.

The 2005 Heat had also made it to Game 7 of the ECF with coach Stan Van Gundy prior to Riley taking over in the 2005/06 season. Had Dwyane Wade not been injured, they may have made the 2005 Finals without Riley as well. Riley does deserve some credit for helping to turn around the 2006 Heat after their initial struggles in the season, but they had already established themselves as contenders without him.

Lastly, there were too many times where Riley's teams failed to close out a series or lost against teams that they should have beaten. In 1986, the defending champion Lakers were heavily favored against the Rockets led by a sophomore Hakeem Olajuwon, but they were easily defeated in 5 games. In 1990, the Lakers were upset in 5 games by Kevin Johnson's Suns, even though the Lakers had the far more loaded team.

Despite Riley's incredibly successful coaching
career, there were numerous occasions where
his teams lost a series in which his teams
were heavily favored. One can't help but
feel that Riley could have made some
adjustments to avoid those losses.

The Knicks went up 2-0 on Jordan's Bulls in the 1993 ECF and were in danger of ending the Bulls' chances at a 3peat, but ended up losing 4 straight games even with homecourt advantage. In 1994, the Knicks had a very hard-fought series against the Rockets in which all 7 games were decided by single-digits, but lost a 3-2 lead and had plenty of opportunities to bring the championship to New York. Riley faced some criticism for allowing Starks too much freedom in Game 7 when he shot 2/18 in a very closely contested game.

And as we mentioned earlier, Riley's Heat were upset by the Knicks in the 1st Round in 1998 and 1999 as the 2nd and 1st seeds, even though Ewing did not even play in the 1998 series and was well past his prime in 1999, with the Knicks no longer being considered a strong contender. Riley's Heat also lost Game 7 of the 2000 ECSF to the Knicks, being eliminated by his old team for the 3rd year in a row even with home-court advantage in all 3 series.

It's true that the players are most responsible for deciding the outcome of the game at the end of the day, but Pat Riley definitely had the players necessary to get the job done in all of the aforementioned series and add a few more rings to his coaching resume. Nevertheless, in spite of these black marks in Riley's coaching career, his 5 championships, 9 Finals appearances and longevity as a coach are more than enough to warrant him a spot as a top 4 coach of all-time.

3. Phil Jackson

Phil Jackson is the winningest coach in NBA history, boasting 11 championships as a coach, three 3-peats and one last set of back to back titles, in 13 Finals appearances. It's also interesting to note that Phil Jackson's teams never lost a series after taking a lead, and that Jackson was swept only one time in his career as a coach, the 2011 WCSF against the Dallas Mavericks, which was also the last series of his coaching career. As I've stated multiple times, it's no coincidence that the winningest coaches in NBA history also benefited from the most individual talent, and Phil Jackson is definitely no exception to this. Jackson coached 3 of the top 10 players of all-time in Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Shaquille O'Neal. 

There's no denying that Phil Jackson
benefited from more individual talent than any
other coach in NBA history, but he still earned
his spot in the conversation for best coaches

The only other person to coach 3 top 10 all-time players is Pat Riley; Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Shaquille O'Neal. However, Kareem and Shaq were no longer in their primes, whereas Jackson had the luxury of coaching Jordan, Kobe, and Shaq during their primes. In spite of the fact that Jackson benefited from more individual talent than anyone else in history, you still have to give him credit for helping those players to win so often and help develop the supporting casts around them. An overlooked aspect of the triangle offense that Jackson used was it's ability to shift some of the playmaking responsibility from the perimeter players onto the post players, which is why Rodman's 3 best assist seasons and 4 of Shaq's 5 best assist seasons came while playing under Jackson's triangle offense. This unique style of playmaking was a key part of the triangle, allowing everyone to get involved in the offense.

Aside from the huge edge in championships, Jackson deserves the nod over Riley simply because his teams were far better at closing out series than Riley was. Jackson's teams never lost a series after taking a lead, whereas Riley's Knicks failed to close out the 1993 ECF or 1994 Finals despite having enough to get the job done. The first-round upsets that Riley's Heat suffered against the Knicks in 1998 and 1999 as the 2-seed and 1-seed also cannot be ignored when comparing his coaching resume to Phil Jackson's. The only times that Jackson's teams lost in the first round were in 2006 and 2007 when Kobe had a very mediocre supporting cast around him. 

Jackson's teams did achieve some success without him as the head coach, though not to the degree that Riley's teams did. The 1989 Bulls had made the ECF with Doug Collins as the head coach and took the otherwise undefeated Pistons to 6 games with a mediocre roster outside of Jordan. The Lakers had also reached the 1998 WCF when Kobe was still a teenager coming off the bench. Both the Bulls and Lakers had already made it to the Conference Finals shortly before Jackson took over as the head coach, implying that Jackson simply had good timing when he took over these teams and coached them to multiple championships.

In spite of the fact that Phil Jackson is the winningest coach of all-time, there are still two coaches who I believe are stronger candidates for the title of the greatest coach of all-time.

2. Gregg Popovich

Popovich had less to work with compared to Pat Riley and Phil jackson, as Tim Duncan  was the only prime all-time great to play under him. David Robinson was injured in the 1996/97 season and no longer capable of leading a team as he had been doing in the pre-Popovich days. Of course, you can't just glance over the fact that Duncan is a top 5 all-time player and made Popovich's job a lot easier, but it also has to be recognized that Jackson and Riley coached a greater collection of overall talent than Popovich did.

It's true that the 2000 Spurs lost in the 1st round as defending champions when Duncan was injured, even with Popovich coaching and against a Suns team with an injured Jason Kidd missing all but 1 game. I'm not denying that Duncan was most responsible for the Spurs' success just as Jordan, Shaq, Kobe, Magic and Wade were most responsible in their championship-leading playoff runs. Popovich's dependence on his best player doesn't take away from his coaching resume any more than Riley or Jackson's dependence on their best players takes away from their coaching success.

Phil Jackson and Pat Riley benefited from
getting fresh starts with new all-time greats,
whereas Popovich had to build around the same
player throughout his coaching career, and
make further adjustments once Duncan
made individual sacrifices for the team

But amongst these three coaches, Popovich is the only one who maintained such a level of consistency; the Spurs having won 50+ games every year from 1998 to 2017, with the exception of the 1999 lockout which would be 61 wins adjusted for 82 games. And Popovich did it while building the team around the same player the entire time, whereas Riley and Jackson got fresh starts with new superstars after Magic and Jordan's days were gone. After Duncan began to take a lesser role in the second half of his career, Popovich made the necessary adjustments and further increased Parker and Ginobili's role in the offense to complement him and make up for the individual production that Duncan sacrificed. 

After some rough years, for the Spurs' standards, from 2009 to 2011, Popovich quickly integrated Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green into the Spurs' system, and the Spurs returned to elite status, making consecutive Finals for the first time and winning it all in 2014. Popovich was superior to Jackson and Riley when it came to developing and increasing the roles of the secondary pieces on a team, whereas Jackson and Riley had the luxury of mostly relying on their superstars. That isn't to say that Jackson and Riley couldn't develop their role players, it's just that Popovich was even better at it. 

Popovich exceeded both Phil and Riley
when it came to bringing the most out of
the supporting pieces on his team and
grooming them into his system.

This is most evident by the 2014 Spurs' championship run, where there was no clear best player throughout the playoffs, as Popovich had created a unique team where several players collectively shouldered the load and perfectly complemented each other. On the other hand, Jackson and Riley always had the luxury of a superstar such as Jordan, Shaq, Kobe, Magic, etc. leading the way in their championships, and never needed to go through as much of a challenge in developing the secondary pieces and having them shoulder a larger load. Popovich's teams did blow some leads in series that they should have closed out, such as the 2004 WCSF and 2012 WCF, and were upset as the 1st seed in the 2011 1st Round, but the few shortcomings that the Spurs suffered aren't enough to offset the positives during Popovich's tenure, especially when it pertains to his ability to integrate the secondary pieces on the Spurs and allow them to flourish much more under the Spurs' system than they would anywhere else.

Because Popovich was superior at developing the secondary pieces on a team, and won his final championship without the luxury of a true superstar, a luxury that Jackson and Riley always had in their titles, he has earned the right to be considered a greater coach than the former two. 

However, Popovich was not as capable of doing more with less compared to the coach I consider to be the greatest of all-time. This is evident in the Spurs' struggles under Popovich when their 3 best franchise players were injured.

1996/97 Season - David Robinson was injured and missed almost the entire season. When Popovich took over as head coach, the Spurs went 17-47 (0.266) under him and finished the season 20-62. Fortunately for San Antonio, this led to Tim Duncan being drafted as the number 1 pick in the 1998 Draft.

2000 and 2002 Playoffs - Duncan missed the 2000 Playoffs due to a torn meniscus and missed Game 4 of the 2002 1st Round to attend his father's funeral. Despite the Spurs having home-court advantage and playing against injured teams (Suns without Kidd, Sonics without Rashard Lewis) in both series, the Spurs went a combined 1-4 in Playoff games without Duncan.

This is especially notable when considering the Spurs were only 1 year removed from winning a championship (1999 and 2003) with a healthy Tim Duncan in both of these examples. Duncan also led the Spurs to the 2001 WCF and 2002 WCSF despite Derek Anderson and David Robinson's injuries in those respective Playoffs. 

When Duncan was injured, the Spurs won only 1 game combined when playing against two lower-seeded and injured rosters. When Duncan's teammates were injured, he still led the Spurs to the WCF and WCSF. This heavily supports the fact that the Spurs' success revolved much moreso on Duncan than it did on Popovich's coaching.

2017/18 Season - With Kawhi Leonard missing most of the season due to injury, the Spurs are struggling to even make the Playoffs after having 67 and 61 wins in consecutive seasons with Leonard playing at his highest level.

1. Larry Brown

“Without him, I wouldn’t be here, so it’s kind of cool.”

- Gregg Popovich, prior to the 2005 NBA Finals

PART 1 - General Summary
Larry Brown may seem like an odd choice for a greatest coach of all-time candidate, as he only coached one championship team in the NBA. However, Brown had the least to work with out of any other all-time great coach in history. Because Brown is by far the most underrated coach on this list, we will have to spend much more time examining his coaching resume and impact compared to the other four, and Brown's entry will be far longer than any of the other four. Before getting into details, let's quickly review Brown's coaching resume. 

Brown is the only coach to win
a title on both the collegiate
and professional levels

Larry Brown is the only person who coached both an NCAA title team, the 1988 Kansas Jayhawks, led by Danny Manning, and an NBA championship team, the 2004 Pistons who boasted the best defense of all-time. When ranking players, I don't put much stock in NCAA accomplishments, but coaching is different. For Brown to be the only person to win as a coach on both of these levels is very impressive. Brown also coached David Thompson's Nuggets, who lost in the 1976 ABA Finals to Dr. J's Nets. It is important to note that the only times David Thompson won a playoff series in the ABA or NBA were with Larry Brown coaching his team.

Next, Larry Brown coached an NBA record 8 different franchises to the playoffs, the Nuggets (1977, 1978), Nets (1982), Spurs (1990, 1991), Clippers (1992, 1993), Pacers (1994-1996), Sixers (1999-2003), Pistons (2004, 2005), and Bobcats (2010). The fact that Brown could lead so many different franchises to the playoffs, most of them multiple times, over the course of so many years is an incredibly underrated accomplishment. 

I can't begin to fathom what it must have been like to be constantly dealing with different rosters, different offensive and defensive systems, and still do your part to help coach such a wide variety of different teams to the playoffs. It is worth noting that all but one ABA/NBA team that Larry Brown coached had a 0.500 or worse record the year prior to his arrival. The lone exception was the 2004 Pistons who were 50-32 in 2003. All but one of those teams made the playoffs at least once under Larry Brown. The exception was the Knicks, who Brown only coached for one season in 2005/06.

Brown is best known for his time with Iverson's Sixers and the 2004 and 2005 Pistons. This is where Brown had his most success, coaching 3 Finals teams in 2001, 2004, and 2005, with the 2004 Pistons winning the championship. Before looking into those years, we should also briefly look at the lesser-known success Brown enjoyed as a coach outside of the Sixers and Pistons.

- The 1978 Nuggets, led by David Thompson, made it to the WCF, where they lost to the Sonics

- The 1990 Spurs, led by rookie David Robinson, made it to Game 7 of the WCSF, losing to Drexler and Porter's Blazers in Overtime.

- The 1994 and 1995 Pacers made it to Game 7 of the ECF in back to back seasons, losing to Ewing's Knicks and the Shaq/Penny Magic.

Gregg Popovich studied under Larry Brown
as an assistant at Kansas and with the
Spurs. Popovich has credited Brown with
helping pave the way for his success.

Now, let's explore how big of an effect Larry Brown had on Allen Iverson's success. I stated earlier that it is usually the players who are more responsible for their coaches' success than vice-versa, but when it pertains to Larry Brown and Allen Iverson, it appears to be the opposite. This is ironic considering Iverson was infamous for his issues with Brown, but the results speak for themselves. Allen Iverson never made it out the first round unless Larry Brown was coaching his team. From 1999 to 2003, the Sixers made it out the first round in 4 of 5 playoffs, as well as the 2001 Finals where they handed the 2001 Lakers their only loss of the playoffs. The one time the Sixers failed to pass the first round under Brown was in 2002, when they lost to the Celtics in an elimination Game 5. After Brown left, Iverson missed the playoffs twice in his prime in 2004 and 2006. Iverson played only 48 games in the 2003/04 season, but was just 19-29 in those games which still would not have been good enough to make the playoffs.

It is no coincidence that Iverson could not
pass the first round without Brown, even
in multiple prime seasons without him

Even when playing alongside Carmelo Anthony and under a very good coach in George Karl, Iverson couldn't pass the first round in 2007 and 2008 with Denver. Iverson was then traded to the Pistons for Chauncey Billups, who had made 6 straight ECF from 2003 to 2008. Despite the previous success the Pistons enjoyed, Detroit finished the season with a losing record and getting swept as the 8-seed, though Iverson was deactivated towards the end of the season due to back injury.

So Iverson had plenty of chances with other solid teams and supporting casts to make it out the first round, but for some reason it was only under Larry Brown that he enjoyed any team success. If it was only a two or three-year sample size, or if Iverson had poor teammates in all of those years, I may not have valued Brown's impact on Iverson as highly. But Iverson had several years from 2004 to 2009 to prove himself without coach Brown, but was still unable to do so, even with supporting casts from the Nuggets and Pistons that should have been enough to make it out the first round a few times. Iverson himself states that he wishes he would have bought in to what Larry Brown was telling him earlier in his career, and we can see from his post-Brown struggles that there's a very good reason for it.

Following his years with Iverson, Brown's two years with the Detroit Pistons are where he experienced his most success as coach. The 2003 Pistons had made the Conference Finals, but also beat two mediocre teams to do so, and ended up getting swept by Jason Kidd's Nets in the ECF. The 2003 Pistons had Billups, Hamilton, Ben Wallace, and a rookie Tayshaun Prince that only started getting significant playing time in the later games of the Pistons' 1st-round series against the Magic. 

Under Brown's guidance, the 2004 Pistons
boasted the best defense of all-time and were
a few plays away from repeating in 2005

The missing piece was Rasheed Wallace, who the Pistons acquired in the middle of the 2004 season. It was after acquiring Rasheed that the Pistons had the best defense in NBA history, and Brown's coaching was a very key intangible that was necessary for their defensive success. Some may feel that any coach could have produced the best all-time defense in Brown's shoes with pieces such as Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, and Tayshaun Prince, but later on we will see that Flip Saunders couldn't replicate the success that Larry Brown had in Detroit, even with the same pieces.

The Pistons defeated the same Nets team that swept them in 2003 in 7 games during the 2004 ECSF, and beat a very underrated 61-21 Pacers team led by Jermaine O'Neal and DPOY Ron Artest in the ECF, a much harder road than the easy 2003 Eastern Conference the Pistons went through to reach the ECF. Then the Pistons pulled off one of the biggest NBA Finals upsets in history, easily beating the Shaq-Kobe Lakers in 5 games, who as we know were also coached by the winningest coach of all-time in Phil Jackson. 

It's important to note that the 2004 Pistons had no all-time great or superstar players, something that every other coach on this list had on each of their championship rosters. Chauncey Billups was very underrated, but would only barely make a top 50 all-time list at best. It's also worth nothing that the Pistons had an extremely limited bench, and were very thin outside of their starting 5, further adding to how impressive their championship run was, as well as the genius of Brown's coaching.

Brown's great success in his 2 seasons with
Detroit is very overlooked, especially when you
consider he didn't have a superstar to work with

Following the 2004/05 defensive rule changes, the Pistons' defense was 2nd behind the Spurs in the regular season, but they still boasted the best defense in the 2005 Playoffs. The Pistons again made the Finals, losing in a very closely contested Game 7 against Tim Duncan's Spurs, with another GOAT-candidate coach in Gregg Popovich on the sidelines. After losing these Finals, Brown had his contract bought out and was relieved of his coaching duties with the Pistons. Brown had been flirting with the possibility of coaching with other teams, and rumors were circulating that Brown had agreed to become the Cavs' president upon the conclusion of the Finals. 

Flip Saunders took over as the Pistons coach in 2006, a few years after coaching Garnett's Wolves who made the 2004 WCF. Saunders was a solid coach, but in the playoffs and particularly the 2006 ECF it became clear that a solid coach wasn't enough to replicate the success that Larry Brown had with the team, even with the same lineup. The 2006 Pistons had improved in the regular season, going 64-18, but fell flat against Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal's Miami Heat in a series that wasn't as close as the 6 games indicate, as the Heat had built a commanding 3-1 lead. The Heat gave up an eventually meaningless Game 5 before destroying the Pistons in Game 6.

The 2006 Pistons did well in the regular season
without Larry Brown, but fell apart and suffered
a bitter end to their season in the ECF after
making the Finals in both years under Brown.

The main problem was that Saunders tampered with Brown's defensive system and principles, shifting the Pistons from a man-to-man team under Larry Brown to a zone-oriented team under Flip Saunders. The Pistons had their greatest defensive success under Brown's man to man scheme in 2004 and 2005, but allowed the Heat to shoot over 50% in the 2006 ECF, with Wade shooting an insane 62% FG, the only series of his career in which Wade shot over 60%. It's true that Wade also lit up Brown's Pistons in the 2005 ECF the previous year before his rib injury in Game 5, but while shooting a human 46% through 4 games. 

It's also worth noting that Kobe's worst Finals performance and Duncan's lowest shooting series ever, excluding the 2016 WCSF at age 40, both came against the Brown-coached Pistons in the 2004 and 2005 Finals, under his man to man defensive scheme. In the video footage of the Pistons' defense against Kobe, Duncan, and Wade, you can see that Brown strictly adhered to fundamental man to man principles with smart double-teaming, help defense, and lane collapsing on drives to the rim.

Here are some quotes from the Pistons' players expressing their reluctance to shifting from Brown's man to man concepts into Flip Saunders' zone-oriented defenses

"...Not all of the Pistons players have gotten their minds around (playing zone). Ben Wallace, the reigning defensive player of the year, isn't exactly thrilled with the concept. "We'll see," he said. Rasheed Wallace isn't completely sold, either. "I am not a big fan of the zone, myself," he said. "I am more of a man-to-man guy. But, hey, if it's for the team, I am with it."

"We never played zone and we hardly even double-teamed," Billups said. "In a zone you are guarding space. It's tough to get used to. Larry (Brown) tried to do it a couple of times last year, but we never really worked on it. This year, we are going to work on it. It's going to be a change-up type thing for us."

- Chris McCosky, The Detroit News, 2005

During the 2006 Playoffs, Saunders was publicly criticized by Ben Wallace for his coaching style, who also had problems with Saunders over the course of the season, such as one instance in which Ben refused to enter a game when Saunders called on him. 

Asked the difference between today's Pistons and the Pistons of 2004 and 2005, especially on defense, Detroit's Ben Wallace said, "Night and day . . . night and day." He pointed out that his team has dropped defensively from No. 1 to "the middle of the pack."

And several players indicated here before practice Sunday that Saunders, who was rightfully praised during the regular season for improving the team's defense, hasn't worked the team much at all on defense, that he barely has talked about it in recent days.
- Michael Wilbon, Washington Post, 2006

Saunders would bench Ben Wallace in the 4th quarter of their elimination Game 6 against the Heat, and Ben would leave for the Bulls in the offseason. Within one year of his departure, the strong contenders that Brown had helped mold had already fallen apart. The Pistons would make the 2007 and 2008 ECF without Ben Wallace, but this had much more to do with the decline of the Eastern Conference than the play of the Pistons, and they still weren't able to make it back to the Finals as they did in both years under Brown.

"I think it's important we're a great man-to-man team, and rebounding team, because I think if you do those things, you can do anything defensively," (Larry) Brown said. "I don't like zones because I think it's a sign of weakness for us, for us, and I worry about rebounding out of zones." - Philadelphia Inquirer, 2001

It's interesting to note that the 2006 ECF is the only time that Shaquille O'Neal outrebounded Ben Wallace in their four playoff meetings from 2004 to 2007, another product of Saunders tampering with Brown's man-to-man defensive principles and shifting them into a zone-oriented team. This further confirms how difficult it was to try and replace Larry Brown's coaching success with the Pistons, and the dangers of shifting away from the principles that Brown instilled in the team. Saunders deviated too much from what was already working under Larry Brown's system, and the results were disappointing for the Pistons' standards, especially on the defensive end.

Within a year of Brown's departure, Ben Wallace
was upset with Flip Saunders' new system and
left the Pistons for Chicago. Detroit would never
reach the heights that they did under Brown again

The Pistons had made the Finals in both years under Brown, and just barely fell short of repeating as champions in 2005. After Brown's departure, they never made the Finals again. With a new defensive system in place under Flip Saunders, the Pistons were completely annihilated and lit up by Wade and the Heat in the 2006 ECF, proving how vital Larry Brown was to the Pistons' system in the two brief years he spent with them, and that any solid or above-average coach simply couldn't replicate Brown's success even with the same roster. To learn more about the differences between the Pistons' defensive philosophies under Brown and Saunders, feel free to check out this archive of quotes of the 2004 - 2006 Pistons.

As I stated earlier, Brown is the only coach who made multiple Finals without a superstar or all-time great caliber player on his roster, with the Pistons in 2004 and 2005. Not only did Brown make multiple Finals as a coach under these circumstances, but he actually won a championship without a true superstar leading the way, as Billups was directing traffic in 2004. Even the one player that Brown coached to the Finals who can be considered a superstar in Iverson had his only years of team success while playing under Larry Brown, despite having multiple opportunities to succeed without Brown on the Nuggets and Pistons. And if you want to include David Thompson, he also only experienced team success while playing under Larry Brown. 

The disappointing Bronze Medal finish at the
2004 Olympics was a rare instance in Brown's
coaching career where his team underperformed.

Brown did come under criticism for his coaching style during the 2004 Olympics, in which the USA Team heavily underperformed and only ended up with a bronze medal. Although Brown does deserve some criticism for these shortcomings, it's also important to note that the 2004 Olympic roster paled in comparison to any of the other USA Olympic Basketball teams since professionals were allowed to compete. Although this will be a big stain on Brown's coaching record, it's not enough to discredit his aforementioned accomplishments.

PART 2 - Detailed Summary

I am now going to go into a lot more detail on Brown's coaching career. Afterwards, I will explain in more detail why Daly, Riley, Jackson, and Popovich are not as great coaches as Larry Brown in my opinion.

In both the ABA and NBA, all but one team that Larry Brown coached had a 0.500 or worse record the year prior to his arrival. The 2003 Pistons were 50-32 prior to his arrival.

Despite inheriting 0.500 or worse teams in all but one instance, Larry Brown still coached all of those ABA and NBA teams to at least one playoff appearances, except for the Knicks. Even then, Brown only coached New York for one season in 2005/06. 

Out of 31 seasons as an ABA/NBA coach, including partial seasons, Larry Brown's teams 

• had winning records under him for 24 seasons
• had losing records under him for 6 seasons
• had 1 season exactly at 0.500

Larry Brown coached a record 8 different NBA franchises to the NBA Playoffs and coached 2 different ABA franchises to the ABA Playoffs. However, this also led to Brown's negative reputation for quickly and suddenly departing from one team to another.

Brown is also the only head coach to win both an NCAA (1988) and NBA title (2004).

Carolina Cougars (ABA)

• 1972 - 35-49 - Missed playoffs - prior to Brown's arrival
• 1973 - 57-27 - Lost EDF 4-3 (equivalent to ECF)
• 1974 - 47-37 - Lost EDSF 4-0 (equivalent to ECSF)

After Larry Brown's departure, the Carolina Cougars would become the Spirits of St. Louis and finished 32-52 and 35-49 in the 1975 and 1976 seasons, respectively. They did make the 1975 EDF even with a poor record, however.

Denver Nuggets (ABA)

• 1974 - 37-47 - Lost 1st Round Tiebreaker 1-0 - prior to Brown's arrival
• 1975 - 65-19 - Lost WDF 4-3 (equivalent to WCF)
• 1976 - 60-24 - Lost ABA Finals 4-2

Denver Nuggets (NBA)

• 1977 - 50-32 - Lost WCSF 4-2
• 1978 - 48-34 - Lost WCF 4-2
• 1979 - 28-25 - Under Brown for 53 games - Lost 1st Round 2-1

After Brown resigned midseason to coach UCLA, the 1979 Nuggets went 19-10 under Donnie Walsh to finish the year 47-35. The Lakers would beat Denver 2-1 in the 1st Round. 

Afterwards, the Nuggets missed the 1980 and 1981 Playoffs with 30-52 and 37-45 records, respectively. Doug Moe would coach the Nuggets to the playoffs every year from 1982-1990 including a 1985 WCF appearance. 

The only two years in which the Nuggets' franchise player, David Thompson, won a playoff series were under Larry Brown in 1976 and 1978.

Brown would coach UCLA to the 1980 NCAA Title Game, but they lost to Louisville 59-54 and later had their appearance vacated due to two players being found ineligible. Brown would then coach the New Jersey Nets in the upcoming season.

New Jersey Nets

• 1981 - 24-58 - Missed playoffs - prior to Brown's arrival
• 1982 - 44-38 - Lost 1st Round 2-0
• 1983 - 47-29 - Under Brown for 76 games - Lost 1st Round 2-0

Brown resigned near the end of the season to coach Kansas. Kansas would win the 1988 NCAA Title under Brown despite being a 6-seed and finishing the year at 27-11, the most losses for an NCAA Champion. 

The Nets went 2-4 under Bill Blair to end the 1983 season and were swept in the 1st Round 2-0 by the Knicks. After Brown's departure, the Nets would lose in the 1984 ECSF, followed by two 1st Round exits.

Larry Brown left Kansas after winning the NCAA title to coach the Spurs. After his departure, Kansas was banned from the 1989 NCAA Tournament due to recruiting violations. This is the only time a reigning NCAA Champion was banned from the tournament.

Although this did not involve any of Brown's players, Brown and others had given money to a potential recruit in Vincent Askew. Brown claimed that Askew needed it for a plane trip to visit his ill grandmother, but Askew used it to pay for an aunt's phone bill in addition to a plane ticket.

San Antonio Spurs

• 1988 - 31-51 - Lost 1st Round 3-0 - prior to Brown's arrival
• 1989 - 21-61 - Missed playoffs 
• 1990 - 56-26 - Lost WCSF 4-3
  • The 1990 Spurs underwent a massive roster overhaul with the additions of Terry Cummings, Rod Strickland, and rookies David Robinson and Sean Elliott. All 4 of these players would become new starters for the Spurs. 
• 1991 - 55-27 - Lost 1st Round 3-1
• 1992 - 21-17 - Under Brown for 38 games - Lost 1st Round 3-0

Larry Brown was fired by the Spurs in the middle of the 1992 season and went on to coach the Clippers that same year. The Spurs would go 26-18 under Bob Bass to finish the year at 47-35 and were swept 3-0 in the 1st Round of the 1992 Playoffs by the Suns.

The Spurs would still find success after Brown's departure, making the playoffs every year afterwards, with the exception of David Robinson's injury season in 1997.

Gregg Popovich first became involved in NBA coaching as an assistant under Larry Brown in the 1988/89 season with the Spurs. Earlier, Brown had cut Popovich during tryouts for the Nuggets when Brown was still coaching in Denver. 

Popovich would later become a volunteer assistant under Larry Brown with Kansas from 1986-1987. When Brown left Kansas to coach the Spurs, he offered Popovich to join him as an assistant coach in San Antonio.

Gregg Popovich has credited Larry Brown for helping to develop him as a coach. Just before Brown and Popovich's respective teams faced off in the 2005 Finals, Popovich stated “Without him, I wouldn’t be here, so it’s kind of cool.”

Los Angeles Clippers

• 1991 - 31-51 - Missed playoffs - prior to Brown's arrival
• 1992 - 23-12 - Under Brown for 35 games - Lost 1st Round 3-2
  • The 1992 Clippers were 22-25 prior to Brown's midseason arrival and finished the season 45-37
• 1993 - 41-41 - Lost 1st Round 3-2

Brown resigned from the Clippers after the 1993 Playoffs and would coach the Pacers the next year.

1992 was the first time since 1976 that the Clippers made the playoffs, when they were the Buffalo Braves. The Clippers missed the playoffs for 3 consecutive years with under 30 wins each year before luckily stumbling into the 1997 Playoffs at 36-46. 1992 and 1993 would be the Clippers' last seasons at 0.500 or better until 2006.

Indiana Pacers

• 1993 - 41-41 - Lost 1st Round 3-1 - prior to Brown's arrival
• 1994 - 47-35 - Lost ECF 4-3
• 1995 - 52-30 - Lost ECF 4-3
• 1996 - 52-30 - Lost 1st Round 3-2 (Reggie Miller missed all but 1 game)
• 1997 - 39-43 - Missed playoffs

Brown asked Pacers President Donnie Walsh to let him out of his contract near the end of the 1997 season and was eventually replaced by Larry Bird after resigning. Bird would coach the Pacers to 3 consecutive ECF from 1998-2000 and the runner-up in the 2000 NBA Finals. These were the only 3 years that Larry Bird coached any team. 

Brown would coach the Sixers in the upcoming season.

Philadelphia 76ers

• 1997 - 22-60 - Missed playoffs - prior to Brown's arrival
• 1998 - 31-51 - Missed playoffs
• 1999 - 28-22 - Lost ECSF 4-0 (lockout season)
• 2000 - 49-33 - Lost ECSF 4-2
• 2001 - 56-26 - Lost NBA Finals 4-1
• 2002 - 43-39 - Lost 1st Round 3-2
• 2003 - 48-34 - Lost ECSF 4-2

Larry Brown and Allen Iverson had their conflicts in Philadelphia, but Iverson in 2016 stated that he wished he had bought in to what Larry Brown was telling him. Like David Thompson, Iverson did not win a playoff series without Larry Brown as his coach.

Brown resigned from the Sixers in the 2003 offseason and was hired by the Pistons after Rick Carlisle was fired. After making 5 consecutive playoffs with Larry Brown, the Sixers would miss the playoffs 3 of 4 years from 2004-2007 after Brown's departure

Detroit Pistons

• 2003 - 50-32 - Lost ECF 4-0 - prior to Brown's arrival
• 2004 - 54-28 - Won NBA Finals 4-1
• 2005 - 54-28 - Lost NBA Finals 4-3

The Pistons are the only team Larry Brown coached that had a winning record prior to his arrival. However, even this came under favorable circumstances. 

The 2003 Pistons have the worst record of any 1-seed in the 4-round format (1984-present). The 2003 Pistons were barely 0.500 against the Western Conference at 15-13, so it is possible they would have struggled to obtain a winning record in a tougher conference. The 2003 Pistons' 50 wins is not as impressive as it looks, since they competed against 0 other 50-win teams in their conference.

Post-Rasheed Wallace trade, the 2004 Pistons produced the best defense in NBA history statistically. The Pistons would lose the 2005 Finals in 7 games to the Spurs, coached by Larry Brown's former protégé Gregg Popovich. 

Interestingly, the 2005 Finals was the first time the Spurs under Popovich (as head coach) or Duncan played a Game 7. In their 5 title seasons, the Spurs have only faced two Game 7s. The first was against the 2005 Pistons in the Finals. The second was against the 8-seed 2014 Mavericks in the 1st Round when Duncan and Ginobili had long passed their primes.

The Pistons bought out Larry Brown's contract after the 2005 Finals due to suspicions that he was looking for opportunities with other teams. There were rumors that Brown might become the Cavaliers' president or seek an opportunity to coach the Knicks, which he would do in the upcoming 2005/06 season.

After Brown's departure, the Pistons improved in the regular season, reaching 64 and 59 wins in 2006 and 2008, respectively. However, the Pistons regressed in the Playoffs and lost in 3 consecutive ECF after making back to back NBA Finals under Brown, losing the first 2 despite homecourt advantage.

During the 2006 Playoffs, many of the Pistons players openly questioned and criticized Brown's replacement, Flip Saunders, and his coaching strategies. Ben Wallace was perhaps the most vocal critic and departed in the 2006 offseason. Tensions between Ben Wallace and Flip Saunders had been building throughout the season and playoffs. The final straw for Ben Wallace was when Saunders benched him for the entire 4th quarter of the 2006 Pistons' final playoff game against the Heat in Game 6 of the ECF.

Larry Brown was strongly against running zone defenses and much preferred man-to-man, but Flip Saunders was strongly in favor of zones. This shift in defensive philosophy contributed to the Pistons' decline.

More detailed info on Larry Brown and Flip Saunders' contrasting defensive coaching styles

• Quotes on 2004-2006 Pistons defensive strategies, including player criticism of Saunders
• 1-Hour Video on 2004-2006 Pistons defensive strategies, including the shift from a man-to-man to a zone scheme after Brown's departure

2004 Olympics

The major black mark on Larry Brown's coaching career is USA Basketball's Bronze Medal in the 2004 Olympics. Brown was criticized for not giving LeBron more minutes, Brown himself criticized the selection process, and Stephon Marbury especially did not get along with Brown, which would carry over to Brown's lone season with the Knicks.

New York Knicks

• 2005 - 33-49 - Missed playoffs - prior to Brown's arrival
• 2006 - 23-59 - Missed playoffs

Brown was fired after just one season with the Knicks. The Knicks had the highest payroll in the league, but finished with the 2nd-worst record in franchise history after the 2015 Knicks at 17-65. 

The Knicks are the only franchise that Larry Brown coached and failed to reach the playoffs with. Every other ABA and NBA team that Brown coached had at least one playoff appearances during their respective years under Brown. Afterwards, the Knicks would still not make the playoffs until 2011, their first appearance since 2004.

Larry Brown was introduced as the Charlotte Bobcats' coach for the 2008/09 season, the ninth and final NBA team he coached.

Charlotte Bobcats

• 2008 - 32-50 - Prior to Brown's arrival
• 2009 - 35-47 - Missed playoffs
• 2010 - 44-38 - Lost 1st Round 4-0
• 2011 - 9-19 Under Brown for 28 games - Missed playoffs

Brown was fired due to the Bobcats' poor start to the 2011 season. The Bobcats went 25-29 under Paul Silas and finished the year 34-48 to miss the playoffs. 

Interestingly, the 2010 Bobcats had the number 1 defense in both PPG allowed and DRTG. However, their poor offense only allowed them to obtain the 7-seed and an eventual sweep at the hands of the Magic. 2010 was the first playoff appearance for Charlotte under the Bobcats' name until 2014.

The year after Larry Brown left, the 2012 Bobcats had the worst win percentage in NBA history at 0.106 with a 7-66 record in the lockout-shortened season

PART 3 - Brown Compared to Other Great Coaches

Chuck Daly

• Daly did not win any Playoff series as a head coach outside of the 1985 and 1987-1991 Pistons as a head coach.
• Daly was clearly not capable of constantly turning losing teams into Playoff contenders like Larry Brown always did

Pat Riley

• The Lakers won the 1980 Finals and made the 1991 Finals without Riley
• Riley's former team in the Knicks upset his Heat in 3 consecutive Playoffs without home-court advantage from 1998-2000
• Even without Ewing in 1998 and as the 7 and 8-seed in 1998 and 1999
• The Knicks made the 1996 ECSF, 1997 ECSF, 1998 ECSF, 1999 Finals, and 2000 ECF without Riley
• For 5 consecutive years, the Knicks won at least 1 Playoff series after Riley's departure
• The 2005 Heat made it to Game 7 of the 2005 ECF without Riley and with Wade injured in Game 5
• All of Riley's teams were legitimate contenders without his coaching, whereas every team that Brown coached outside of the Pistons were 0.500 or worse prior to his arrival

Phil Jackson

• The Bulls and Lakers were successful prior to Jackson's arrival, reaching the 1989 ECF and 1998 WCF, respectively. The 1999 Lakers also reached the WCSF the year before Jackson took over as the head coach in Los Angeles
• Every team that Brown coached outside of the Pistons were 0.500 or worse prior to his arrival
• Brown also never had the luxury of coaching top 10 all-time players like Jordan, Shaq, and Kobe in their primes as Phil Jackson did.

Gregg Popovich 

• With David Robinson healthy, the Spurs made the 1995 WCF and 1996 WCSF prior to Robinson's injury in the 1996/97 season and Popovich's arrival as the head coach. The Spurs had already made the Playoffs for 7 consecutive years without Popovich prior to the 1996/97 season
• 1996/97 Season - David Robinson was injured and missed almost the entire season. When Popovich took over as head coach, the Spurs went 17-47 (0.266) under him and finished the season 20-62. 
• 2000 and 2002 Playoffs - Duncan missed the 2000 Playoffs due to a torn meniscus and missed Game 4 of the 2002 1st Round to attend his father's funeral. Despite the Spurs having home-court advantage and playing against injured teams (Suns without Kidd, Sonics without Rashard Lewis) in both series, the Spurs went a combined 1-4 in Playoff games without Duncan.
• 2017/18 Season - With Kawhi Leonard missing most of the season due to injury, the Spurs are struggling to even make the Playoffs after having 67 and 61 wins in consecutive seasons with Leonard playing at his highest level
• Popovich's Spurs struggle greatly when their star player is injured, and the Spurs were already an established Playoff team under Robinson when Popovich took over
• Every team that Brown coached outside of the Pistons were 0.500 or worse prior to his arrival

PART 4 - Larry Brown: The Greatest Defensive Coach of All-Time

Other than the Knicks, every team that Larry Brown coached had at least 1 season ranking top 10 in PPG allowed and at least 1 season ranking top 10 in DRTG. In most instances, Larry Brown's teams also regressed defensively (and overall) after his departure.

Even when Brown didn't have DPOY personnel like Robinson, Mutombo, or Ben Wallace, he still coached top 10 defenses with the Nuggets, Nets, Clippers, Pacers, pre-Mutombo Sixers, and coached the Bobcats to the Number 1 defense

Larry Brown also coached the best defense of all time (2004 Pistons) and the best defense of the post-2004 rule changes era (2005 Pistons).

2004 Pistons' Shot-Clock Era Defensive Playoff Records

• Allowed under 90 points in 18 playoff games 
• Allowed under 85 points in 16 playoff games 
• Allowed under 80 points in 11 playoff games 
• Allowed under 75 points in 6 playoff games 
• Allowed under 70 points in 6 playoff games 
• Allowed 65 or less points in 3 playoff games
• One of 2 teams (1998 Bulls) to allow under 60 points in a playoff game
• Allowed under 40% FG in 12 playoff games 
• Allowed under 35% FG in 5 playoff games (Tied-NBA record, 1999 Knicks)
• Allowed under 30% FG in 2 playoff games (Tied-NBA record, 1999 Knicks)

Least PPG allowed in a shot-clock era Playoff run of any length

• The 2004 Pistons allowed 80.696 PPG
• slightly lower than the 2000 Heat at 80.700 PPG allowed

Excluding Overtime periods

• the 2004 Pistons allowed 78.6 PPG for the Playoffs in regulation
• compared to 79.9 PPG allowed for the 2000 Heat

Lowest Post-1st Round DRTG in a Playoff run (1974-present)

• The 2004 Pistons had a 92.0 DRTG in the Playoffs
• The 2000 Spurs had a 91.4 DRTG, but this was in a 1st Round loss of only 4 games
• Basketball-Reference does not have Playoff DRTG in pre-1974 Playoff runs
  • It is likely Russell's Celtics hold this record. They had multiple seasons with a DRTG between 83-91
  • But the 2004 Pistons would still hold this record in the 3-point era (1980-Present)

Lowest OPP FG% in a Playoff Run Lasting at Least 3 or 4 rounds (1971-Present)

• The 2004 Pistons held opponents to 39.21% FG in the Playoffs
• The 2004 Nets held opponents to 39.15% FG, the lowest in a post-1st Round run
  • however, the Pistons played more than twice as many games as the Nets (23 to 11)
• The 2001 Wolves (38.68%) and 2001 Suns (37.99%) have the lowest Playoff OPP FG% in this timespan, but while only playing 4 games apiece in 1st-Round exits
• Playoff OPP FG% is not available on Basketball-Reference prior to 1971

2005 Pistons' Post-2004 Rule Changes Defensive Records

Least PPG allowed in a post-2004 rule changes Playoff run of any length

• The 2005 Pistons allowed 85.6 PPG in the Playoffs
• The 2013 Knicks (85.9 PPG allowed) are the only other sub-86 PPG Defense in a post-2004 Playoff run of any length

The 2005 Pistons are also 

One of 5 post-2004 teams to have a sub-100 DRTG in a Post-1st Round Playoff Run

• 98.3 DRTG - 2012 Sixers (13 games)
• 98.3 DRTG - 2013 Knicks (12 games)
• 99.2 DRTG - 2012 Celtics (20 games)
• 99.5 DRTG - 2005 Pistons (25 games)
• 99.6 DRTG - 2007 Nets (12 games)

However, the other 4 Post-2004 teams had significantly worse defensive numbers against the Western Conference compared to the East. So playing in the East Playoffs heavily protected their defensive numbers. Only the 2005 Pistons and 2013 Knicks even had winning records against the Western Conference.

2005 Pistons

• 91.0 PPG allowed vs East (35-17 record)
• 86.8 PPG allowed vs West (19-11 record)

2007 Nets

• 96.1 PPG allowed vs East (31-21 record)
• 102.2 PPG allowed vs West (10-20 record)

2012 Sixers

• 88.8 PPG allowed vs East (28-20 record)
• 91.1 PPG allowed vs West (7-11 record)

2012 Celtics

• 88.1 PPG allowed vs East (32-16 record)
• 92.7 PPG allowed vs West (7-11 record)

2013 Knicks

• 93.5 PPG allowed vs East (37-15 record)
• 99.5 PPG allowed vs West (17-13 record)

So the the 2005 Pistons are the only true, non-padded sub-100 DRTG in a post-2004 Playoff run

The 2004 and 2005 Pistons have the best Playoff defensive performances in terms of PPG allowed and DRTG for all-time and post-2004 rule changes, respectively.

Brown's Pistons forced several notable players into the worst offensive performances of their primes.

• Jason Kidd, 2004 ECSF - 28.4% FG
• Kobe Bryant, 2004 Finals - 23-3-4 on 38%, 3.6 TOpg
• Tim Duncan, 2005 Finals - 41.9% FG

The only series that Kidd and Duncan shot worse were when they were far past their prime (2011 WCSF for Kidd at age 38, 2016 WCSF for Duncan at age 40)

The Pistons heavily regressed defensively after Larry Brown's departure

After Larry Brown's departure, Dwyane Wade shot a career series-high 62% FG in the 2006 ECF against Saunders' zone-oriented defense compared to 46% pre-injury in Games 1-4 of the 2005 ECF.

Michael Redd also had amazing numbers against the Pistons' zone defense in the 2006 1st Round with 27 ppg on 52/47/89. as opposed to 18 ppg on 41/30/76 against Brown's Pistons in the 2004 1st Round.

The 2004 and 2005 Pistons under Brown's man-to-man scheme 

- outrebounded 7 of their 8 playoff opponents 

- the lone exception was the 2005 Spurs 

The 2006 Pistons under Saunders' zone scheme 

- were outrebounded by 2 of their 3 playoff opponents 

- the Cavaliers and Heat 

Larry Brown's Pistons 

- averaged at least 40.9 RPG in all 8 of their playoff series 

The 2006 Pistons, even with Ben Wallace

- only averaged 36 RPG in the 2006 ECF 

With Ben Wallace gone and under Saunders' zone scheme

The 2007 and 2008 Pistons 

- were tied or outrebounded by 4 of their 6 playoff opponents 

- tied the 2007 Magic at 161 rebounds 

- outrebounded by the 2007 Cavs, 2008 Magic, and 2008 Celtics

- averaged under 39 RPG in 4 of 6 playoff series 

- averaged under 39 RPG in all 3 series of the 2008 Playoffs

- had an abysmally low 31.8 RPG against the 2008 Celtics 

Larry Brown's Pistons

- ranked 2nd and 6th of 16 teams in RPG for the 2004 and 2005 Playoffs, respectively

Flip Saunders' Pistons

- ranked 9th, 9th, and 16th of 16 teams in RPG for the 2006, 2007, and 2008 Playoffs, respectively 

"I think it's important we're a great man-to-man team, and rebounding team, because I think if you do those things, you can do anything defensively," (Larry) Brown said. "I don't like zones because I think it's a sign of weakness for us, for us, and I worry about rebounding out of zones." - Philadelphia Inquirer, 2001

Larry Brown was incredibly accurate in predicting the lack of rebounding that would be present within a zone defense.

After becoming a zone-oriented defense post-Larry Brown, the 2006 Pistons also allowed opposing teams to shoot at least 55% FG in 5 Playoff games. The only team to allow more 55% FG games from opponents in one Playoff run is the 1985 Nuggets with 6. 

Under Flip Saunders' zone scheme

1. The 2006 Pistons allowed the Heat to shoot 51.5% as a team in the ECF. In the 2004 and 2005 Playoffs under Brown, 7 of 8 teams shot under 44% FG in their respective series with Brown's Pistons. The lone exception was the 2005 Heat, who shot 47.0%, still a significant 4.5% less than the 2006 Heat.

2. The 2004-2008 Pistons had their worst OPP FG% defense in the playoffs under Flip Saunders in 2006 and 2008.

2004-2008 Pistons' OPP FG% Defense in playoffs
39.2% FG - 2004 (2 of 16) - Brown
43.1% FG - 2007 (3 of 16) - Saunders
43.3% FG - 2005 (4 of 16) - Brown
44.6% FG - 2008 (7 of 16) - Saunders
46.4% FG - 2006 (9 of 16) - Saunders

Even the 2007 Pistons' defensive numbers are heavily protected due to facing 0 top 10 offenses in the 2007 Playoffs. The 2007 East is tied for the 3rd-weakest conference in the 4-round format (1984-present) with the 2007 Pistons and 2017 Celtics tying for the 3rd-worst record by a 1-seed under that format.

Weak competition is much more responsible for the 2007 Pistons' good defensive numbers, hence why they performed so poorly in OPP FG% defense under Flip Saunders when the East was actually good in 2006 and 2008.

PART 5 - Brief Recap

• Larry Brown is the only head coach to win both an NCAA (1988) and NBA Title (2004)
• The 1988 Kansas Jayhawks won the NCAA title despite being the 6-seed with a 27-11 record, the most losses of any NCAA Champion
• Larry Brown coached a record 8 different NBA franchises to the playoffs as well as 2 different ABA franchises
• This is despite the fact that Brown only inherited one team with a winning record in either the ABA or NBA; the 2003 Pistons who benefited from an incredibly weak East.

• Other than the Knicks, every team that Larry Brown coached had at least 1 season ranking top 10 in PPG allowed and at least 1 season ranking top 10 in DRTG 
• Even when Brown didn't have DPOY personnel like Robinson, Mutombo, or Ben Wallace, he still coached top 10 defenses with the Nuggets, Nets, Clippers, Pacers, pre-Mutombo Sixers, and coached the Bobcats to the Number 1 defense
• In most instances, Larry Brown's teams also regressed defensively (and overall) after his departure.

• The only winning team that Larry Brown inherited made 2 consecutive NBA Finals under Brown, winning one of them
• Allen Iverson and David Thompson did not win a playoff series without Larry Brown coaching them

PART 6 - Conclusion

Brown won championships as an NCAA and NBA coach, the only person to do so, and had by far the least to work with compared to any other of the great coaches in NBA history. Brown definitely deserves consideration as one of the greatest coaches in history based on how the Sixers and Pistons fell from grace shortly after his departures from both organizations, as well as the fact that David Thompson and Allen Iverson could not lead their teams to playoff success without Brown coaching from the sidelines. 

Maybe if Brown had the luxury of coaching a top 10 all-time player throughout his coaching career like Pat Riley, Phil Jackson, or Gregg Popovich did, he may have ended up being considered the greatest coach of all-time by more people. I definitely would like to see what Brown could have done if he had the luxury of coaching much better individual talent throughout his career. Unfortunately, that is mostly speculation, but it is still verifiable that Larry Brown did the most while working with the least compared to any other coach in NBA history, and I don't think its arguable that Brown is at least in the conversation of the greatest coach of all-time despite his lone NBA championship. If I had to pick any person to coach my team for a season, I'd pick Larry Brown for his ability to do the most with the least. All the coaches above him on this list had far more individual talent to work with, which greatly enhanced their respective coaching legacies.

SECTION 1 - Players From Jordan's Day Against 2000s Defenses

- Looking at how the Jordan Era players had an easier time in the modern era

SECTION 2 - How Washed-up Jordan Did Against the Top Defenders of the "Advanced, More Athletic, Superior" 2000s Era

- Looking at how a 38-40 year old Jordan himself schooled the 2000s defenders

SECTION 3 - Jordan's "Weak" Defensive Competition Compared to Lebron/Kobe's "Advanced" Competition
- Proving the vast superiority of individual defenders of Jordan's era compared to the 2000s

SECTION 4 - The "Jordan Never Faced Zone" Myth

- Destroying the myth that Jordan never played zone defense

SECTION 5 - The Myth That 80s/90s Defenses Can't Contain Modern Players Without the 80s/90s Rules

- Proof that 80s/90s players would still have success guarding 2000s players without the 80s/90s rules

SECTION 6 - The Myth of Jordan's Inability to Deal with 80s Teams, and the Truth About Expansion

- Looking at how Jordan did against the 80s teams and why expansion did not make it easier to win championships

SECTION 7 - "Jordan Played Weak Competition in the 80s/90s"

- Proof that Jordan's Competition was 80s-quality and far better than the 2000s era

SECTION 8 - The Myth that Jordan Was Not As Valuable to His Teams' Success

- Looking at the truth of how the Bulls did without Jordan, and how other great teams did without their stars.

SECTION 9 - "Jordan Got All the Calls"

- Did Jordan really get any more special treatment than other superstars? Nope.

SECTION 10 - Wilt Chamberlain: Great, but Far From the Greatest

- Exposing the myths behind the great, but misunderstood, Wilt Chamberlain

SECTION 11 - The "Lebron is a 6-8 250 Freight Train and too Big/Strong/Fast to be Guarded in the 80s/90s era" Myth

- Looking at how Lebron got locked down by defenders of the 2000s era and comparing them to the vastly superior 80s/90s

SECTION 12 - Lebron: The Most Overrated Defender of All-Time

- Destroying one of the media's biggest misconceptions regarding Lebron's solid but vastly overrated defense

SECTION 13 - "Lebron Doesn't Have Enough Help, and No One Can Carry a Team Like Him"

- Lebron fans think no player in history could succeed if their teammates don't step up, and that Lebron is the only one who has carried a team on his back. Is that really the case?

SECTION 14 - Jordan vs Lebron: The Truth

- The real Jordan vs Lebron comparison

SECTION 15 - Jordan vs Kobe: The Truth

- The real Jordan vs Kobe comparison

SECTION 16 - Jordan (and Hakeem) vs Kareem

- Kareem is great, but he is not even the greatest center of all-time, let alone the greatest of all-time.

SECTION 17 - The Truth about Michael Jordan Without Scottie Pippen

- The full context behind Jordan's struggles without Pippen

SECTION 18 - Michael Jordan's Wizards Years

- A look at how Jordan turned the Wizards around before his knee injury caught up to him

SECTION 19 - The Case for Jordan as the Best Perimeter Defender of All-Time

- Looking at Jordan's defensive impact in detail, both as a team player and 1 on 1 defender

SECTION 20 - Why Jordan Would Accomplish More In Cleveland and Miami than LeBron

- Looking at the strong evidence supporting that Jordan would have achieved more than what LeBron has in Cleveland and Miami 

SECTION 21 - Hakeem Olajuwon: The Greatest Center of All-Time
- Hakeem Olajuwon is the best center of all-time, and there is strong evidence to prove it

SECTION 22 - Chris Paul: The Most Overrated Point Guard Of All-Time

- Chris Paul is an extremely overrated playoff performer and defender, and isn't even a top 5 PG of his own era, let alone all-time

SECTION 23 - Kevin Johnson: The Most Underrated Point Guard Of All-Time

- Kevin Johnson is an extremely underrated and under-appreciated point guard, who should have been a first-ballot Hall of Famer and considered a top-10 point guard of all-time

SECTION 24 - The Three Greatest Playoff Runs of All-Time

- Analyzing the three greatest individual playoff runs in NBA history

SECTION 25 - The Worst Finals Performances of All-Time

- Analyzing the worst performances in NBA Finals history

SECTION 26 - Jordan vs Russell

- Comparing the two players who won the most championships as the best player on their team

SECTION 27 - The Five Greatest Coaches of All-Time

- Taking a look at the greatest coaches in NBA history

SECTION 28 - The Least Deserving Finals MVPs of All-Time

- Taking a look at the players who least deserved to win their Finals MVPs

SECTION 29 - Refuting 10 Myths About Michael Jordan
- Refuting certain myths about Jordan, as well as abridging of some of the main points in earlier sections for easier reference.

SECTION 30 - The 20 Greatest Conference Finals Runs of All-Time
- Ranking the 20 greatest playoff runs in which a player played 3 rounds before losing prior to the NBA Finals

SECTION 31 - The 1970s: The Weakest Decade of the NBA's Post-Infancy
- Why the 1970s was the weakest decade of any era from 1960-present

SECTION 32 - The 10 Worst Supporting Casts on NBA Finals Teams (1960-Present)
- Examining the worst supporting casts on teams that reached the NBA Finals

SECTION 33 - The 10 Greatest Rookie Playoff Runs of All-Time
- The most impressive playoff runs in which rookies led their team to at least one series win