NBA Coach of the Year Award

Hall of Famer Red Auerbach won the award in the 1964–65 season. The award was later named after him. Hall of Famer Pat Riley is the only coach to be named Coach of the Year with three different franchises. Hall of Famer Phil Jackson won the award in the 1995–96 season with an NBA record of 72 wins in a season. Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown won the award in the 2008–09 season.

The National Basketball Association's Coach of the Year is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1962–63 NBA season. The winner receives the Red Auerbach Trophy, which is named in honor of the head coach who led the Boston Celtics to nine NBA Championships from 1956 to 1966. The winner is selected at the end of regular season by a panel of sportswriters from the United States and Canada, each of whom casts a vote for first, second and third place selections. Each first-place vote is worth five points; each second-place vote is worth three points; and each third-place vote is worth one point. The person with the highest point total, regardless of the number of first-place votes, wins the award.^[1]

Since its inception, the award has been given to 40 different coaches. The most recent award winner is Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau. Don Nelson and Pat Riley each won the award three times, while Hubie Brown, Bill Fitch, Cotton Fitzsimmons and Gene Shue have each won it twice. Riley is the only coach to be named Coach of the Year with three different franchises.^[2] Larry Bird is the only recipient to have also been named MVP as a player. Bill Sharman and Lenny Wilkens are the only recipients to have been inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as both player and coach. Johnny Kerr is the only person to win the award with a losing record (33–48 with the Chicago Bulls in 1966–67). Kerr was honored because he had guided the Bulls to the NBA Playoffs in their first season in the league.^[3]

Winners

^	Denotes head coach who is still active in the NBA
*	Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach
*^	Active NBA head coach who has been elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
W–L	Win–loss record for that season
Win%	Winning percentage for that season

Season	Coach	Nationality	Team	W–L	Win%
1962–63	Gallatin, HarryHarry Gallatin	United States	St. Louis Hawks	48–32	.600
1963–64	Hannum, AlexAlex Hannum*	United States	San Francisco Warriors	48–32	.600
1964–65	Auerbach, RedRed Auerbach*[a]	United States	Boston Celtics	62–18	.775
1965–66	Schayes, DolphDolph Schayes	United States	Philadelphia 76ers	55–25	.688
1966–67	Kerr, JohnnyJohnny Kerr	United States	Chicago Bulls	33–48	.407
1967–68	Guerin, RichieRichie Guerin	United States	St. Louis Hawks	56–26	.683
1968–69	Shue, GeneGene Shue	United States	Baltimore Bullets	57–25	.695
1969–70	Holzman, RedRed Holzman*[a]	United States	New York Knicks	60–22	.732
1970–71	Motta, DickDick Motta	United States	Chicago Bulls	51–31	.622
1971–72	Sharman, BillBill Sharman*	United States	Los Angeles Lakers	69–13	.841
1972–73	Heinsohn, TomTom Heinsohn	United States	Boston Celtics	68–14	.829
1973–74	Scott, RayRay Scott	United States	Detroit Pistons	52–30	.634
1974–75	Johnson, PhilPhil Johnson	United States	Kansas City-Omaha Kings	44–38	.537
1975–76	Fitch, BillBill Fitch[a]	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers	49–33	.598
1976–77	Nissalke, TomTom Nissalke	United States	Houston Rockets	49–33	.598
1977–78	Brown, HubieHubie Brown	United States	Atlanta Hawks	41–41	.500
1978–79	Fitzsimmons, CottonCotton Fitzsimmons	United States	Kansas City Kings	48–34	.585
1979–80	Fitch, BillBill Fitch[a]	United States	Boston Celtics	61–21	.744
1980–81	McKinney, JackJack McKinney	United States	Indiana Pacers	44–38	.537
1981–82	Shue, GeneGene Shue	United States	Washington Bullets	43–39	.524
1982–83	Nelson, DonDon Nelson[a]	United States	Milwaukee Bucks	51–31	.622
1983–84	Layden, FrankFrank Layden	United States	Utah Jazz	45–37	.549
1984–85	Nelson, DonDon Nelson[a]	United States	Milwaukee Bucks	59–23	.720
1985–86	Fratello, MikeMike Fratello	United States	Atlanta Hawks	50–32	.610
1986–87	Schuler, MikeMike Schuler	United States	Portland Trail Blazers	49–33	.598
1987–88	Moe, DougDoug Moe	United States	Denver Nuggets	54–28	.659
1988–89	Fitzsimmons, CottonCotton Fitzsimmons	United States	Phoenix Suns	55–27	.671
1989–90	Riley, PatPat Riley*[a]	United States	Los Angeles Lakers	63–19	.768
1990–91	Chaney, DonDon Chaney	United States	Houston Rockets	52–30	.634
1991–92	Nelson, DonDon Nelson[a]	United States	Golden State Warriors	55–27	.671
1992–93	Riley, PatPat Riley*[a]	United States	New York Knicks	60–22	.732
1993–94	Wilkens, LennyLenny Wilkens*[a]	United States	Atlanta Hawks	57–25	.695
1994–95	Harris, DelDel Harris	United States	Los Angeles Lakers	48–34	.585
1995–96	Jackson, PhilPhil Jackson*[a]	United States	Chicago Bulls	72–10	.878
1996–97	Riley, PatPat Riley*[a]	United States	Miami Heat	61–21	.744
1997–98	Bird, LarryLarry Bird	United States	Indiana Pacers	58–24	.707
1998–99	Dunleavy, MikeMike Dunleavy	United States	Portland Trail Blazers	35–15	.700
1999–00	Rivers, DocDoc Rivers^	United States	Orlando Magic	41–41	.500
2000–01	Brown, LarryLarry Brown*^	United States	Philadelphia 76ers	56–26	.683
2001–02	Carlisle, RickRick Carlisle^	United States	Detroit Pistons	50–32	.610
2002–03	Popovich, GreggGregg Popovich^	United States	San Antonio Spurs	60–22	.732
2003–04	Brown, HubieHubie Brown	United States	Memphis Grizzlies	50–32	.610
2004–05	D'Antoni, MikeMike D'Antoni^	United States[b]	Phoenix Suns	62–20	.756
2005–06	Johnson, AveryAvery Johnson^	United States	Dallas Mavericks	60–22	.732
2006–07	Mitchell, SamSam Mitchell	United States	Toronto Raptors	47–35	.573
2007–08	Scott, ByronByron Scott^	United States	New Orleans Hornets	56–26	.683
2008–09	Brown, MikeMike Brown^	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers	66–16	.805
2009–10	Brooks, ScottScott Brooks^	United States	Oklahoma City Thunder	50–32	.610
2010–11	Thibodeau, TomTom Thibodeau^	United States	Chicago Bulls	62–20	.756

Notes

• ^a Was selected as one of the Top 10 Coaches in NBA History^[4]
• ^b Mike D'Antoni also holds Italian citizenship.^[5]

References

General

• "Coach of the Year". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. http://www.nba.com/history/awards_coachofyear.html. Retrieved June 2, 2008. 
• "NBA Coach of the Year". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/coy.html. Retrieved July 15, 2008. 

Specific

1. ^ "Dallas’ Avery Johnson Named 2005-06 NBA Coach of the Year". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. April 28, 2006. http://www.nba.com/news/awards2006_coach.html. Retrieved July 12, 2008. 
2. ^ "Heat coach Pat Riley among 2008 Basketball Hall of Fame class". ESPN. April 7, 2008. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=nba&id=3334726. Retrieved July 12, 2008. 
3. ^ "Johnny "Red" Kerr Bio". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. http://www.nba.com/history/players/kerrj_bio.html. Retrieved July 15, 2008. 
4. ^ "Top 10 Coaches in NBA History". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. http://www.nba.com/history/top_10_coaches.html. Retrieved July 12, 2008. 
5. ^ "Mike D'Antoni". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. http://www.nba.com/coachfile/mike_dantoni/. Retrieved August 17, 2008.