Steve Kerr vs Mike Budenholzer: Who's the Coach of the Year?

The NBA Coach of the Year race is down to Steve Kerr and Mike Budenholzer — who wins?

For much of the past month, the NBA’s “great debate” has centered around what team is playing the best basketball in the NBA. January was the definition of perfect for the Atlanta Hawks, who finished the month with a spotless 17-0 record in the midst of a 19-game winning streak, and for the Golden State Warriors, the 2014-2015 season has been a dream from the start, resulting in the league’s best record at 39-8.

At the center of any discussion surrounding the respective teams should be on the bench, as Atlanta head coach Mike Budenholzer and Golden State head man Steve Kerr have rocketed to the top of the great majority of Coach of the Year lists. There are several reasons for the inclusion of both coaches, but in the midst of full-fledged “basketball season”, a central question arises.

Who is the NBA’s Coach of the Year right now?

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To be honest, the inspiration for tackling this question is wide-ranging, but it also includes the fact that the Hawks and Warriors will face off for the first time this season on Friday evening in Atlanta. The two teams have seemingly been on a collision course for some time, to the point where ESPN and other entities have run multiple segments on an “NBA Finals Preview” between them, but if we simply step around the team-versus-team angle, there is better data to be combed through.

Steve Kerr landed in Oakland on the heels of a somewhat controversial decision to spurn his mentor, New York Knicks president Phil Jackson, in favor of taking the job with the Warriors. In retrospect, it appears to be a comically easy decision for Kerr, who virtually stepped into the perfect situation from a roster standpoint, but at the time, there was certainly a feeling that he was headed to the Big Apple, and that provides an interesting backdrop to his first season as a head coach in the NBA.

In the case of Budenholzer, the 2014-2015 is year two of his regime, but it also wasn’t without challenges prior to the beginning of the season. The now infamous Danny Ferry recordings took the focus completely off basketball in Atlanta, and in the wake of Ferry’s leave of absence, Budenholzer was elevated to the head of player personnel in addition to managing a team that was trying to reintegrate its best player, Al Horford, from a long-term injury in an improving Eastern Conference.

Inherently, Kerr’s name recognition and existence as a first-year coach will provide a leg up in the minds of some. It isn’t every day that a rookie head coach inherits a team with this type of talent, but in the same breath, some portion of Kerr’s candidacy has to be mitigated by the fact that Golden State finished the 2013-2014 season with a 51-31 record. Obviously, the Warriors are on pace for much better than that this season, but the “shock” value of a jump from the bottom to the top does not exist for Steve Kerr.

Budenholzer’s team made the playoffs last season, but it was a far cry from a 51-win Warriors team. The Hawks finished 38-44 and in the eighth spot in a woeful Eastern Conference, and while they pushed Indiana to the brink in the opening round, momentum wasn’t exactly scorching from the team overall. The off-season issues took the shine away from what many thought would be an improved team with Horford back in the fold, but no one (and I mean no one) envisioned the current 41-9 record.

Feb 2, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; Atlanta Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer against the New Orleans Pelicans during the first quarter of a game at the Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports /

While both Kerr and Budenholzer clearly have worthy candidacies for Coach of the Year honors based on their performance, there are some differences that separate the two. Kerr is blessed with a widely-acclaimed superstar in Stephen Curry, and with a gun to their head, most NBA pundits would likely tell you that Klay Thompson is the second-best player when combining the two rosters. Frankly, I would disagree, with Horford taking that spot over Thompson, but in the same breath, it would be plainly false to suggest that Atlanta has as much talent as Golden State.

That is not to take away from this roster that the Hawks have built. Horford joins Paul Millsap and Jeff Teague as worthy choices for the All-Star Game, and fellow starters DeMarre Carroll and Kyle Korver are solidly above-average players in their own right. Atlanta is also a very deep bunch (even if some pundits haven’t caught on), and they can go as many as eleven-deep with quality players when healthy.

Still, Golden State is a gauntlet on both ends of the floor for a reason. Draymond Green may be the Defensive Player of the Year, Curry and Thompson spark the offense, and with pieces like Andrew Bogut, Andre Iguodala and even David Lee as purely supporting characters, the talent is frightening.

Kerr’s principle impact on Golden State’s performance has been on the offensive end, even if the team’s reputation was as a “run and gun” group prior to the season. The Warriors were just slightly above-average offensively a year ago, scoring 105.3 points per 100 possessions under Mark Jackson, and the offense consistently harkened back to the mid-1990’s with inexplicable post-ups and a lack of ball movement or spacing.

Amusingly, Mike Budenholzer’s best attribute is probably his ability to implement an offense based on ball movement, and while the Hawks aren’t quite as effective as the Warriors on a per-possession basis (107.4 points per 100 for ATL, 110.3 points per 100 for GS), they are a joy to watch. The consistent offense has forced Budenholzer into the national consciousness, but defensively, the Hawks move as a unit in a way that is virtually unmatched in the league, and that leads them to a very solid 100.0 defensive rating despite the lack of a dominant rim protector or ball-stopping point guard.

Simply put, you can’t go wrong here. Steve Kerr has taken advantage of his quality pieces to the tune of the best net rating in the NBA (+13.0 points per 100 possessions) by a wide margin, while Mike Budenholzer has his group solidly overachieving while running away with the Eastern Conference in early February. Atlanta’s record (41-9, .820 winning percentage) is probably more impressive given their talent versus performance, but they take a small hit for simply being in the East, while Golden State’s 39-8 (.830 winning %) mark is worth mentioning even when the talent level suggests that they underachieved a year ago.

Mike Budenholzer would receive my Coach of the Year vote if the season ended today, but Steve Kerr is on his heels and there is plenty of basketball to play. Now, let’s settle in and watch the Hawks and Warriors (finally) do battle in Atlanta.

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Steve Kerr vs. Mike Budenholzer: Who is the NBA Coach of the Year?

By Brad Rowland | Feb 5, 2015

The NBA Coach of the Year race is down to Steve Kerr and Mike Budenholzer — who wins?

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