Detroit Pistons: 5 best and 5 worst coaches in team history

Detroit Pistons: 5 best and 5 worst coaches in team history

The Worst: Lawrence Frank

I feel like I have to take a deep breath before going off here. Frank earned some clout by winning the first 13 games of his NBA head coaching career, but he did that in New Jersey. His best work came as head coach of the Nets, where he spent seven seasons at the helm, reaching the playoffs four times. When he joined the Detroit Pistons in 2011, he was still just 41-years-old. A coach on the come up, it seemed. He turned out to be anything but.

Frank lasted just two years in Detroit, and they were horrendous. His 54-94 record left him with one of the worst winning percentages in team history (.365). Almost every player I’m about to list was well past his prime. Nevertheless, Frank coached Andre Drummond, Greg Monroe, Khris Middleton, Jason Maxiell, Ben Gordon, Brandon Knight, Rodney Stuckey, Tayshaun Prince, Corey Maggette and Ben Wallace. I’m just saying – he had some solid vets. Drummond, Monroe and Middleton were just beginning their careers. In fairness, I’m not sure he had any player that was in his prime. Still. It was hard to live through and I’m still scarred by it.

The Best: Chuck Daly

There’s no disputing this one, right? Chuck Daly was the absolute right man at the right time. He was the perfect man to coach the Bad Boys. His two championship rings prove it. His success stretched across the better part of a decade, and his accolades are innumerable because of it. Naturally he has the most wins of any coach in Pistons history with 467 against 271 losses, but that shakes out for a .633 winning percentage that while not tops, is stunning considering the length of his career. He also managed to go 71-42 in the playoffs, and it’s crazy that his winning percentage of .628 in the postseason measures up so well to that of his regular season stat. Last year, he was named one of the Top 15 coaches in NBA history (along with Larry Brown, interestingly). In the Motor City, “Daddy Rich” as Daly was known is The GOAT.