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NBA Awards Watch: The Final Ballot

By Brad Rowland

OAKLAND, CA - MARCH 29: Stephen Curry at ORACLE Arena on March 29, 2016 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.
OAKLAND, CA - MARCH 29: Stephen Curry at ORACLE Arena on March 29, 2016 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. /
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SAN ANTONIO,TX – MARCH 2: Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich confers with Tony Parker #9 of the San Antonio Spurs during the game against the Detroit Pistons at AT&T Center on March 2, 2016 in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that , by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images)
SAN ANTONIO,TX – MARCH 2: Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich confers with Tony Parker #9 of the San Antonio Spurs during the game against the Detroit Pistons at AT&T Center on March 2, 2016 in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that , by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images) /

The 2015-2016 NBA season was awesome, even by NBA standards.

The league is in a fantastic place right now after a banner campaign that included a great number of historic performances (both individual and team-based), and throughout the year, we have brought you periodic updates on the NBA’s award chases. This is the final ballot.

All six major awards are featured and while some of them were runaways (you can guess which ones), a few were hotly contested and dare we say controversial to the very end. We will do our best to explain the thought process behind each and every pick, but in the end, the close-fought races come down to personal preference, for better or worse.

With all of that said, let’s get this thing started with a breakdown of the NBA’s best head coaching jobs from this season.

Coach of the Year

  1. Gregg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs – This is the easy answer but it’s also the right answer. Gregg Popovich is the best coach in the NBA and, by extension, that places him in the running for his honor on an annual basis. The 2015-2016 COY field was wide open, but Popovich did an incredible job in serving as the architect for a 60-plus win team, and he did so without the benefit of high-level performance from Tony Parker. Yes, the Spurs have a great deal of talent, highlighted by Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge, but San Antonio wouldn’t be nearly the threat that it is without Pop and this has been yet another work of art from his standpoint.
  2. Terry Stotts, Portland Trail Blazers – With apologies to Charlotte’s Steve Clifford, Stotts did the best job when it comes to overachieving. Portland was seen as a sub-30 win team by pretty much everyone in advance of the season, and Stotts captained this club to a record above .500 and a breezy berth in the Western Conference Playoffs. Damian Lillard should receive a ton of credit (and he has), but Stotts is one of the more underrated tacticians in the sport, and his individual work in piecing this group together can’t go unnoticed.
  3. Steve Kerr/Luke Walton, Golden State Warriors – What an odd situation. The head coach of arguably the best team in NBA history should probably win this award, but do we know who to vote for? Both Kerr and Walton were listed on the official COY ballot, leaving it up for interpretation, and while my instinct is to simply reward Kerr’s work, he wasn’t with the team for a significant portion of the season. I can (and should) be called out for hedging my bet here, but unless you tell me that Kerr gets credit for the full season, he can’t win the award, and the same sentiment exists for Walton.

Next: Most Improved Player

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