Only a select few NBA players who experienced championship winning seasons were fortunate to replicate their success as head coach. Here are the most successful figures to have won NBA championship rings as both players and head coach.
Phil Jackson
13 titles (2 as player, 11 as head coach)
The ‘Zen Master’ reached 13 NBA finals in his 20 year coaching career and won 11 championships. The king of three-peats, Jackson won two three-peats with the Chicago Bulls from 1991-1993 and 1996-1998 before doing it as the Lakers head coach from 2000-2002. He also won back-to-back championships in 2009 and 2010. Earlier on in his career he spent 13 seasons in the NBA as a player. He won two titles playing for the New York Knicks in 1970 and 1973.
Bill Russell
11 titles (9 as player and 2 as player-coach)
Bill Russell holds the record for most NBA championships as a player. The Boston Celtics legend won 11 NBA titles in his thirteen-year playing career. He became player-coach in 1966 and led the Celtics to two consecutive titles in 1968 and 1969. Russell is the only player-coach apart from Buddy Jeannette to win an NBA championship.
Tom Heinsohn
10 titles (8 as player and 2 as head coach)
Heinsohn played nine seasons for the Boston Celtics, winning championships in eight of those seasons. He also coached the team for nine years, winning two NBA titles in 1974 and 1976. He is only one of five people to be inducted in to the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and coach.
K.C. Jones
10 titles (8 as player and 2 as head coach)
Jones spent all of his 9 season in the NBA with the Boston Celtics, winning eight NBA titles during that span. He began his coaching career in 1967 before becoming head coach of the Celtics in 1983. Jones guided the Larry Bird-led Celtics to championships in 1984 and 1986. The Celtics reached the finals in four of his five years as head coach.
Steve Kerr
9 titles (5 as player and 4 as head coach)
Steve Kerr’s 9 titles mean he has won 33% of the last 27 NBA finals. Kerr won four straight titles from 1995 to 1999 with the Chicago Bulls and the San Antonio Spurs. He won his final ring as player during his last year in San Antonio before retiring to become a broadcast analyst. Kerr took up coaching in 2014, winning the championship with Golden State in his first year. He has since won four NBA titles with the Warriors in the last eight years.
Pat Riley
6 titles (1 as player, 5 as head coach)
Pat Riley played five seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers and was part of their 1972 championship winning team. He became head coach of the Lakers in 1981, winning the championship in his first year. Riley would go on to win four titles over eight seasons as the Lakers head coach. He won his fifth championship as head coach of the Miami Heat in 2006.
Who has the most NBA championship rings as player and coach?
Phil Jackson holds the record for the most rings with 13 championship rings. He won 11 of them as head coach.
Who was the first person to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as both player and coach?
John Wooden became the first person to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and coach.
Who is in the NBA Hall of Fame as player and coach?
Five Hall of Fame players have also been inducted as coaches; John Wooden in 1973, Lenny Wilkens in 1998, Bill Sharman in 2004, Tom Heinsohn in 2015 and Bill Russell in 2021.
