Don Nelson — the original COY hat trick

Nelson won his three Coach of the Year awards across three different teams: 1982-83 with the Milwaukee Bucks, 1984-85 with the Bucks again, and 1991-92 with the Warriors. He became the first coach with three COY awards, and his Warriors-era ‘Run TMC’ (Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond, Chris Mullin) team of the early 1990s was widely cited as the offensive blueprint for the modern small-ball NBA.

Nelson is also the all-time NBA wins leader at 1,335 — though he never won a championship. His coaching philosophy of using big-but-skilled players in unusual lineups (the ‘point forward’ was a Nelson invention) influenced Phil Jackson, Steve Kerr, and Erik Spoelstra. He was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2012 as a coach.

Pat Riley — Lakers, Knicks, Heat

Riley won his three Coach of the Year awards across three different teams as well: 1989-90 with the Lakers, 1992-93 with the Knicks, 1996-97 with the Heat. He’s the only coach in modern NBA history to win COY with three different franchises. He also won 5 NBA championships as a head coach (1982 with Lakers as assistant, then as head coach 1985, 1987, 1988, 2006).

Riley’s combination of regular-season COY honors and playoff success is unique — most coaches who win Coach of the Year don’t go on to win championships, and most coaches who win championships don’t get the regular-season recognition. He’s been Heat president since 1995 and is widely credited with the franchise’s two LeBron-era titles (2012, 2013) as front-office architect.

Gregg Popovich — three across the Spurs dynasty

Popovich won his three Coach of the Year awards all with the San Antonio Spurs: 2002-03 (the 60-22 team that lost in the Conference Semifinals), 2011-12 (the 50-16 lockout-shortened season), and 2013-14 (the 62-20 team that won the NBA championship). He’s the only coach in NBA history to win COY in his championship season.

Popovich also won 5 NBA championships (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2014) and is the all-time wins leader as a head coach with 1,422+ regular-season wins. He retired from active coaching in May 2025 after 28 seasons with the Spurs. Among current active coaches, no one is on track to reach three COY awards — Steve Kerr (4 titles, 0 COY) and Erik Spoelstra (1 title, 0 COY) lead the modern era.

Background facts cross-referenced with the Wikipedia article on Don Nelson and Pro-Football-Reference / Basketball-Reference public records.