Dwane Casey is the Raptors’ all-time leader in games coached with 558.
The Toronto Raptors have had 10 different head coaches in franchise history. Only one of them has led the team to a championship. Let’s highlight their top five all-time leaders in games coached.
Casey entered the league as an assistant coach with the SuperSonics during the 1994-95 season. In 2005-06, he became the head coach of the Timberwolves. He went on to coach 122 games for the team before being an assistant on the Mavericks. Casey took over the head coaching job for the Raptors in the 2011-12 season. After posting losing records during his first two seasons, he had a stretch of five straight seasons in which he won at least 48 games. The team made the playoffs six times with him at the helm, but Casey only had a career record of 21-34 in the playoffs. Casey was named the NBA Coach of the Year in 2017-18.
Nurse served as an assistant coach for the Raptors for five seasons before getting an opportunity to be their head coach. In his first season as head coach, the Raptors went 58-24 and won the NBA Championship. Despite the departure of Kawhi Leonard, Nurse led the team to 53 wins and another playoff berth the following season. After a tough 2020-21 season in which the Raptors won just 27 games, Nurse helped the team make another playoff appearance in the 2021-22 campaign. Over his 390 career games with the team, he posted a record of 227-163, while also going 25-16 in the playoffs.
While Mitchell has served as an assistant coach for three different franchises, the Raptors were the first team to give him an opportunity to be their head coach. He took over the team for the 2004-05 season, going 33-49. The Raptors first made the playoffs with him at the helm during the 2006-07 season, but they never won more than 47 games in a season with him as their head coach. He finished with a regular season record of 156-189. In the playoffs, he went just 3-8.
Wilkens coached for six different teams during his career in the league and he’s the NBA’s all-time leader in games coached with 2,487. He took over the Raptors for the 2000-01 season, going 47-35 and making the playoffs. He won 42 games the following season, also helping the team to another postseason berth. However, his tenure with the team ended after he went just 24-58 in his third season. Wilkens then finished his head coaching career at the helm of the Knicks for two seasons. With the Raptors, Wilkens had a regular season record of 113-133. He went 8-9 in the playoffs.
Triano was an assistant coach on the Raptors for six seasons before being named head coach during the 2008-09 season. His best record came in 2009-10, when the team went 40-42. He never made the playoffs as the head coach of the Raptors, posting a career record of 87-142 with the franchise.
