The National Basketball Coaches Association (NBCA) has named former Los Angeles Lakers head coach Paul Westhead as the recipient of the 2026 Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award.
“Coach Westhead’s impact on the game extends far beyond wins and championships,” NBCA president and Detroit Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said in the announcement. “He challenged conventional thinking, introduced ideas that were ahead of their time, and influenced generations of coaches across every level of men’s and women’s basketball.”
Westhead’s coaching career spans more than four decades across the collegiate, NBA, and WNBA ranks. He earned his first head-coaching position at La Salle University before joining the Lakers as an assistant under Jack McKinney in 1979. Elevated to head coach later that season, he guided Los Angeles to the 1980 NBA Championship behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and rookie Magic Johnson.
The Philadelphia native later held NBA head-coaching posts with the Chicago Bulls and Denver Nuggets and led college programs at Loyola Marymount and George Mason. In 2007, he coached the Phoenix Mercury to a WNBA title, making him the only coach to win championships in both the NBA and WNBA.
Known as the “father of the run-and-gun offense,” Westhead thanked colleagues, mentors, and family members in a statement. He recalled his friendship with Chuck Daly, praised former college coach Jack Ramsay, and acknowledged coaches ranging from McKinney to P.J. Carlesimo. “I am grateful to receive the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award,” Westhead said. “I am thankful for all the coaches who worked with me and appreciative of my family, who moved from city to city during my career.”
Previous honorees include former Lakers head coaches Pat Riley and Del Harris, longtime assistant Tex Winter, and Hall of Famers such as Jerry Sloan, Lenny Wilkens, and Rudy Tomjanovich.
The NBCA will formally present the award in 2026.
Source: Lakers Nation
