The Toronto Raptors, founded in 1995, is the only remaining Canadian-based basketball team currently in the National Basketball Association. In the Raptors' franchise history, there have been eight different head coaches tasked to lead the Raptors since its inception, currently headed by head coach Dwayne Casey. While Casey is having his own peaks and valleys as the pilot of the Toronto basketball team, the three greatest coaches so far for the Toronto Raptors are Butch Carter, Sam Mitchell and Lenny Wilkens.
No.3: Butch Carter (1998 - 2000)
In the lockout-shortened season of 1998-99, Butch Carter was appointed as the Raptors' head coach, becoming the franchise's third in history. Carter has spent his entire NBA coaching career with the Toronto Raptors. In 2 seasons as head coach, he led the Raptors in 165 regular season games. His regular season percentage stands at (.422), with a win-loss record of 73-92. Carter is one of only three coaches in Toronto to lead the Raptors in the NBA playoffs. In his playoff coaching career, Carter lost all three playoff games.
No.2: Sam Mitchell (2004 - 2008)
Sam Mitchell's entire coaching career in the NBA was spent with the Raptors, and the only one to be named NBA Coach of the Year, when he led the overachieving Raptors to the 2007 NBA playoffs. For the regular season, Mitchell has coached the most games for the Raptors with 345 for over four seasons, more than a hundred games more than its closest competitor. Out of 345 games, Mitchell won 156 of them, for a winning percentage of (.451). In two seasons of leading Toronto to the playoffs in 2007 and 2008, Mitchell coached a total of eleven playoff games, winning 3 of them for a winning percentage of (.273).
No.1: Lenny Wilkens (2000 - 2003)
A hall of famer both as a head coach and as a player, Lenny Wilkens was the fourth head coach in franchise history, when he was given the position in 2000. The second winningest coach in NBA history, Wilkens coached the Raptors to 17 playoff games, the by a coach in Toronto history. His win-loss record in the playoffs for two appearances is at 8-9, for a winning percentage of (.471). Leading the Raptors to two playoff seasons, Wilkens holds the franchise record in playoff wins, losses and playoff percentages. As far as the regular season goes, he led the Raptors with 246 regular season wins, for a win-loss percentage of (.459). Lenny Wilkens is the only Raptors coach to lead the Toronto franchise to the second round of the NBA playoffs.
Among the three, Lenny Wilkens so far has been the most successful coach to call the shots for the Raptors. He has simply led his teams to their best records, and has reached the deepest in the playoffs. Lenny Wilkens is the greatest coach in Toronto Raptors history.
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