NBA Head Coaches Who Transformed Teams from Underdogs to Champions

I’ll never forget the first time I heard Coach Nash Racela’s story about Greg Slaughter’s recruitment back in the PBA. It was one of those moments that reminded me why I love studying coaching transformations. Racela, then with TNT, recounted how he practically pleaded with Slaughter to join his squad, convinced that adding the talented big man would turn them into instant contenders. While that specific move didn’t materialize as hoped, it’s a perfect illustration of a broader, almost magical phenomenon in the NBA: the arrival of a head coach who completely alters a franchise’s DNA, transforming them from perennial underdogs into bona fide champions. Over my years analyzing basketball, I’ve come to believe this is the single most impactful change a team can undergo—more than any blockbuster trade or high draft pick. It’s about installing a leader who doesn’t just draw up plays, but rewires the entire organization’s belief system.

Think about the Golden State Warriors before Steve Kerr took over in 2014. They were fun, they had Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, but let’s be honest, they were seen as a soft, jump-shooting team that couldn’t get over the hump. In the 2013-14 season, they won 51 games, which is respectable, but they lost in the first round of the playoffs. There was a ceiling. Then Kerr arrives. He didn’t invent the three-pointer, but he had the vision and the authority to fully commit to a system that leveraged his players' unique skills. He moved Draymond Green into the starting lineup, supercharged the pace-and-space offense, and instilled a culture of selfless ball movement. The result? A staggering 67 wins in his first season and an NBA championship, breaking a 40-year title drought for the franchise. That’s not just a tweak; that’s a revolution. Kerr provided the strategic blueprint and the unwavering confidence that allowed his players to become the best versions of themselves. It reminds me of the passion in that quote from Coach Cardel, "Sabi ko nga sa kanya, dito na siya sa amin... Kapag nakuha namin si Greg, laban na laban na kami." That’s the spirit. It’s that conviction from a coach that tells a team, "With this piece, with this system, we are now fighters. We are now contenders." Kerr was that missing piece for the Warriors, the one who made them believe they could not just compete, but dominate.

Of course, you can’t talk about transformative coaches without mentioning the ultimate example: Phil Jackson and the Chicago Bulls. When Jackson took over in 1989, the Bulls were Michael Jordan’s team, a spectacular individual force that consistently fell short in the playoffs. They were the definition of underachievers, a team with a superstar but no cohesive identity. Jackson, drawing on his unconventional methods and the Tex Winter triangle offense, did something revolutionary—he structured the chaos. He convinced the greatest scorer the game has ever seen to trust his teammates, to buy into a system that prioritized collective success over individual brilliance. He managed egos, integrated key role players like Horace Grant and Bill Cartwright, and fostered an environment of Zen-like focus. The transformation was absolute. In his first full season, they won 55 games, and the very next year, they captured the first of their six championships. Jackson didn’t just add a playbook; he built a dynasty from a team that was previously known for its playoff failures. In my view, this is the hallmark of a truly great coach. It’s not about being the loudest voice, but about being the architect of a culture where winning becomes inevitable.

A more recent, and perhaps more dramatic, example is Nick Nurse with the Toronto Raptors. Before their 2019 championship run, the Raptors were famously known as "LeBronto," a team that consistently excelled in the regular season only to be dismantled by LeBron James in the playoffs. They were the epitome of a talented underdog that couldn't cross the final hurdle. When Nurse was promoted to head coach in 2018, he brought a reputation for tactical innovation, particularly on defense. His masterstroke in the 2019 playoffs was the creation of the "junk" defenses used against MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo in the Eastern Conference Finals, effectively building a wall that neutralized one of the most unstoppable forces in the league. He empowered Kawhi Leonard as the closer but also got crucial contributions from a deep bench, masterfully managing minutes and matchups. The result was the first NBA championship in the history of the Canadian franchise. Nurse took a team haunted by its past and rewrote its future through sheer strategic boldness. I have a personal preference for coaches like Nurse—the mad scientists who aren’t afraid to experiment and throw the conventional game plan out the window when the situation demands it. That kind of adaptability is priceless.

Looking back at these stories, the pattern is clear. A transformative coach is part strategist, part psychologist, and part leader. They see potential where others see limitations. They install not just an X-and-O system, but a championship mentality. It’s that same fervent belief I hear in Coach Cardel’s voice—the conviction that with the right leader and the right pieces, any team can go from being participants to being champions. These coaches, from Kerr to Jackson to Nurse, prove that the most significant roster move a team can make isn't always for a player; sometimes, it's for the person who will draw up the plays, empower the roster, and ultimately, lead them from the shadows of being underdogs into the bright lights of a championship parade.