Stating the case for every Coach of the Year candidate
By Ian Levy
The NBA’s Coach of the Year Award is usually heavily tied to win-loss record. In four of the last six seasons, it’s gone to a coach whose team won 60 or more games. Only two teams are likely to clear that threshold this season — the Warriors and Spurs — and neither Gregg Popovich or Steve Kerr can be considered a front-runner.
Some of the best coaching jobs we’ve seen this season have been from guys who led their team through adversity, helped rebuild an identity, or greatly exceeded preseason expectations. We might even have a Coach of the Year this season whose team finishes below .500. Here are some of the leading candidates for the award, along with a quick summary of their case.
Gregg Popovich
Popovich is a perennial candidate, almost uniformly viewed as the best coach in the NBA. However, best coach (full stop) and coach of the year aren’t necessarily the same thing. Popovich will get mentioned, and he should for keeping the Spurs without Duncan just a step behind the Warriors. But this isn’t his year.
Kenny Atkinson
It would be a hard pill to swallow giving this award to the coach with the worst win-loss record in the league this season, but Atkinson has done an admirable job in less than ideal circumstances. As they struggled through injuries and looked for buried treasure in the D-League, the Nets have used 21 different players this season. Despite those changes, they have built a clear offensive identity. Atkinson’s facility for player development has helped bring along young players like Caris LeVert and Spencer Dinwiddie, and coax a career year from Brook Lopez. Oh, and since the beginning of March they’re 9-10 with a +1.0 point differential per 100 possessions.
All right, probably not Coach of the Year material but Atkinson deserves a medal of some sort.
David Fizdale
Fizdale’s case has faded as the Grizzlies have receded into the second-tier of the Western Conference but he’s still done a fairly remarkable job this season. Mostly without their biggest offseason acquisition, Chandler Parsons, the Grizzlies are on track for another strong season and a playoff berth. Fizdale helped Marc Gasol (and really the entire team) push beyond the 3-point line and he got Zach Randolph to buy in on coming off the bench. The Grizzlies were projected by many to fall out of the playoffs this season, but they’ve managed to hang on and Fizdale’s guidance has been hugely important.
Mike D’Antoni
D’Antoni’s time with the Knicks and Lakers had taken some of the shine off his accomplishments with Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns, but all of that negativity has been wiped away this season. D’Antoni took over the Rockets after a frustrating and disappointing season, and has helped them reach a new tier. The freedom D’Antoni has given James Harden is fueling the team’s offense and Harden’s MVP campaign. The Rockets are leaning into their extreme offensive tendencies and D’Antoni has helped slot everyone into advantageous roles around Harden.
Scott Brooks
Wizards were dead and buried. At the end of November, their record sat at 6-11 with a -3.1 point differential. The offense wasn’t working. The defense was a disaster. Chemistry was a mess. Since then, the Wizards are 40-20 with a +2.9 point differential. The turnaround has been dramatic and, while career years from players like Otto Porter and Bradley Beal, have been driving the surge, some credit has to go to Brooks for holding it together. This team could have gone even farther off the rails, disintegrating completely. Instead, Scott Brooks helped bring them back to the top of the Eastern Conference.
Erik Spoelstra
While the Wizards’ turnaround has been impressive, Spoelstra and his Miami Heat can top them. Their turnaround began on Jan. 17 when they kicked off a 13-game winning streak. Prior to that, the Heat were 11-30 with a -4.4 point differential. Since then, the Heat are 26-10 with a +6.7 point differential, a mark that trails only the Warriors and Spurs over the same time frame.
Next: Stating the case for every Most Improved Player Candidate
While the Wizards’ resurgence was about coaxing star performances out of very good players, Spoelstra has been pulling star performances from players on the fringe of the NBA. Dion Waiters has been a revelation, James Johnson has been reborn, and even Wayne Ellington and Luke Babbitt are hitting key shots. There are plenty of ways to view the Coach of the Year Award, but it’s hard to argue that anyone other than Spoelstra has done more with less this season.