King James Gospel
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Cavs: Ranking every head coach in franchise history

By Josh Cornelissen

Tyronn Lue, Cleveland Cavaliers. Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
Tyronn Lue, Cleveland Cavaliers. Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images /
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Byron Scott, Cleveland Cavaliers. Photo by Elsa/Getty Images /

Cavs: Ranking every head coach in franchise history – Extended Failure

15. Byron Scott

Record: 64-166

No head coach would likely have been successful trying to take the “Team That LeBron Left” and keep them on a winning trajectory. Even so, Byron Scott was simply terrible in three seasons at the helm. Despite the presence of a number of talented players, including two seasons of Kyrie Irving, the team never won more than 24 games and averaged just 21.3 wins per year.

14. John Lucas

Record: 37-87

John Lucas was a good NBA player who was well-liked around the league (and still is), but he was decidedly unsuccessful in two head coaching stints in the 1990s. Nevertheless the Cavaliers decided to bring him in for the 2001-02 season to take over a team that had won an average of 31 games the past two seasons. Lucas managed to lower the average, going just 29-53. He began the next season 8-34 and was cut loose from there midway through the worst season for the franchise since their very first as an expansion team in 1970-71.

13. Bill Musselman

Record: 27-67

Bill Musselman was an intense coach who made his way from stop to stop with rapidity. He made a name for himself at the University of Minnesota, once famously saying “Defeat is worse than death because you have to live with defeat.” Unfortunately, Musselman had a lot of that to live with as he went 25-46 in the 1980-81 season before new owner Ted Stepien fired him 11 games before the end of the season.

In a peculiar turn of event, Stepien went back to Musselman a year later. After firing three coaches in 1981-82, Musselman was hired back to coach the team for the last 23 games. He did even worse than the first time, winning just two games to close the year and once again losing the job.

12. Tom Nissalke

Record: 51-113

For the first time in franchise history the Cavaliers went to the NBA well to hire a head coach, instead of the ranks of college or assistant coaches. Tom Nissalke won Coach of the Year in the ABA and then in the NBA with the Houston Rockets. After three seasons with the Utah Jazz he took over the Cleveland Cavaleirs in 1982 and coached for two whole seasons, becoming the first coach under owner Ted Stepien to make it on full season, let alone two. After losing twice as many games as he won he was not retained.