alongside the selection of the 50 greatest players, was the selection of the top 10 coaches in nba history. the list was compiled based upon unranked selection undertaken exclusively by members of the print and broadcast media who regularly cover the nba. all 10 coaches named were alive at the time of the list's announcement, and four of them—phil jackson, don nelson, pat riley, and lenny wilkens—were then active. five have since died: red holzman in 1998, red auerbach in 2006, chuck daly in 2009, jack ramsay in 2014, and john kundla in 2017. jackson was the last of the ten to coach in the nba; he announced his retirement after the 2010–11 season. nelson was the only member to have never won a championship as a coach, even though he won five as a player. wilkens was the only member of the coaches list to have been selected as a member of the players list. all ten coaches are also members of the naismith memorial basketball hall of fame.