Ranking all 7 Lakers head coaches since Phil Jackson from "bad" to "scapegoat"

No. 5: Bernie Bickerstaff

In 2012 Lakers head coach Mike Brown hired longtime head coach Bernie Bickerstaff as an assistant coach. Bickerstaff, the father of current Cleveland Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, entered the NBA coaching ranks in 1973 and was the head coach for four different franchises over 14 seasons before he was hired by the Lakers.

Bickerstaff's tenure as an assistant coach with the Lakers under Brown did not last long, as Brown was fired just five games into the 2012-13 season after going 1-4. Bernie was then handed the reigns as an interim coach as the Lakers negotiated with Mike D'Antoni. After D'Antoni was hired as head coach, his start with the team was delayed by a few days as he recovered from surgery.

Bickerstaff stood in the gap, coaching just five games for the team. To his credit, he went 4-1 in that span, helping to right the ship for the Lakers and hand a .500 team off to D'Antoni. He stayed on with the team for the season but was let go after that.

Going 4-1 gave Bickerstaff an .800 winning percentage that technically makes him the all-time winningest coach in Lakers history. Pat Riley had a .733 winning percentage, Jack McKinney a .714, Paul Westhead a .689. He was genuinely liked by the Lakers players, but as they looked to win another title they quickly replaced him with Mike D'Antoni and he moved on to another stop.