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Optimizing individual talent and rosters is one of the most integral things a franchise should do to achieve good results in the NBA. While front offices are assigned the duty of assembling rosters, the fates of the players are in the hands of the coaching staff.
High-level NBA coaches are those who have shown the ability to improve and optimize rosters when they join an association. A coach's winning percentage is a fairly tell-tale indicator of their ability in the league. After all, the point of NBA basketball is to win games.
Here's a look at five active NBA coaches with the best regular-season win percentage heading into the 2021-22 season.
#5 - Nick Nurse (61.1%)
Before being promoted to head coach for the Toronto Raptors, Nick Nurse was an assistant at the franchise for five seasons. In his first year running the show, the Raptors added Kawhi Leonard to the squad and ended up winning 58 games en route to an NBA Championship.
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The following season, the Toronto Raptors secured a 53-19 record in the bubble season. The outlier came in 2020-21 when the Raptors were more affected by COVID-19 protocols than any other NBA team after being forced to play their home games in Tampa Bay.
Rather than performing in front of their own fan base and training in familiar practice facilities, they were practically always on the road.
Nurse's 27-45 record for the season looks abysmal on the surface, but context is crucial. Despite being an outlier this past season, his 61.1% win percentage is undoubtedly impressive.
#4 - Tyronn Lue (61.8%)
Like Nick Nurse, Tyronn Lue managed to win the elusive NBA Championship in just his first season as the head of a coaching staff (which he joined halfway through).
The Cleveland Cavaliers, with LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, conquered the 73-9 Golden State Warriors in the 2015-16 season. In the two subsequent seasons, similar Cavaliers rosters secured the title of NBA Eastern Conference champion.
After the dismantling of those legendary squads, Lue made his way to the LA Clippers as an assistant in 2019-20. Doc Rivers had some concerns, and Lue would step into the head coaching role a year later, which concluded with a 47-25 record. He will be presented with a unique challenge this season with superstar Kawhi Leonard sidelined.
#3 - Steve Nash (66.7%)
The Brooklyn Nets' Steve Nash is the only coach on this list with a single season as an NBA head coach under his belt. In his lone NBA season at the helm, the Nets won 48 games and lost just 24 (66.7% winning percentage).
The 47-year-old has managed to find the ideal role for Bruce Brown as a roll man, which is an impressive feat. He has also proven to be a good head coach rather than a product of a supremely talented roster, comprising Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving.
Irving not playing this NBA season seems like a growing possibility. His absence would give fans a better understanding of Nash as an NBA head coach, even if Durant and Harden remain available.
#2 - Gregg Popovich (66.7%)
Not many would take issue with labeling Gregg Popovich the greatest NBA head coach of all time. In his 25 seasons as head coach, the San Antonio Spurs have appeared in the postseason on 23 occasions.
Popovich's accolades include five NBA championships, three Coach of the Year awards, and two Olympic gold medals as part of the Team USA coaching staff.
Note the discrepancy in sample sizes for Popovich compared to his peers also mentioned in this list. 13 seasons with a winning percentage of at least 70%, along with the aforementioned awards, speak for themselves.
#1 - Steve Kerr (68.7%)
Steve Kerr is a disciple of Gregg Popovich, and he clearly adopted the latter's winning ways.
Kerr has had the benefit of playing with undeniably talented players like Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Kevin Durant throughout his seven seasons with the Golden State Warriors. However, let's not downplay his coaching ability.
His league-leading winning percentage does not account for Luke Walton implementing the 2015-16 scheme that Kerr had already put in place to 39 wins and four losses.
Steve Kerr and the Warriors appeared in the NBA Finals for five straight seasons and secured the Larry O'Brien trophy on three of those occasions.
Since then, Kerr has faced tough conditions. The 56-yea-old has had to deal with injuries to his primary players. He also had to figure out how to acclimate developmental minutes for Golden State's recently drafted youth talent. His team's 54-83 record from 2019-21 is representative of those hurdles.
It will be interesting to see how Kerr bounces back with added depth and some returning foundational pieces in the 2021-22 NBA season.
