Early career with George Karl and the CBA After retiring as a player, Stotts joined Karl's coaching staff as an assistant with the CBA's
Albany Patroons in 1990–91. During his first year, he helped lead the Patroons to an all-time CBA-best 50–6 record. Stotts then coached the CBA's
Fort Wayne Fury for one season before rejoining Karl as part of his staff on the
Seattle SuperSonics in the NBA. He then moved with Karl to the
Milwaukee Bucks in 1998.
Atlanta Hawks In 2002, Stotts decided to part ways with Karl and joined the
Atlanta Hawks as an assistant coach. He was promoted to head coach 27 games into the season after
Lon Kruger was fired. Stotts led the Hawks to a 24–31 record before he was let go, and returned to the assistant coaching ranks with the
Golden State Warriors.
Milwaukee Bucks In 2005, Stotts became the head coach of the
Milwaukee Bucks. He guided them to the playoffs in his first season, but was fired towards the end of his second season on March 14, 2007.
Dallas Mavericks Stotts was hired as an assistant coach for the
Dallas Mavericks shortly after
Rick Carlisle was hired as head coach in September 2008. He was credited for coordinating the Mavericks' offense that was one of the most efficient in the league in 2010–11, when they won the NBA title.
Portland Trail Blazers The
Portland Trail Blazers hired Stotts as their head coach on August 7, 2012. The Blazers went 33–49 in Stotts's first year, losing their final 13 games to drop out of the playoff race. In Stotts's second season, he coached the team to an overall record of 54–28. They beat the
Houston Rockets in the first round of the
NBA playoffs with a buzzer-beating three-point shot by
Damian Lillard to advance to the second round, but fell to the eventual NBA champion
San Antonio Spurs in the second round, ultimately losing in five games. In Stotts's third season, he led the team to an overall record of 51–31. After sustaining key injuries, they fell to the
Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the
NBA playoffs, 4–1. Despite losing four of his starters including star forward
LaMarcus Aldridge, in the off-season, Stotts's fourth season saw him lead the Trail Blazers to the second round, after defeating the
Los Angeles Clippers in the first. In the second round, Portland played the top-seeded
Golden State Warriors to a competitive five-game series, but eventually lost 4–1. On May 16, 2016, Stotts agreed to a contract extension with the Trail Blazers. In the 2018–19 season, Stotts led the Trail Blazers to a 53–29 regular-season record and their deepest playoff run in almost 20 years. Portland defeated the
Oklahoma City Thunder 4–1 and
Denver Nuggets 4–3 in the first two rounds, but got swept by the two-time defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors in the
Conference finals. On June 4, 2021, after falling to the
Denver Nuggets in six games for their fourth first-round exit in five years, Stotts and the Blazers mutually agreed to part ways. He left the club with the second-most wins in franchise history with 402. On October 19, 2023, one day before the final game of the Bucks’ preseason, he resigned. ==Head coaching record==