Cleveland’s coach, Kenny Atkinson, was honored on Saturday with the National Basketball Coaches Association’s (NBCA) Coach of the Year award. This comes after he successfully guided the Cavaliers to a remarkable 64-win season, securing the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
The NBCA has been presenting its own Coach of the Year award, named in honor of Michael H. Goldberg, their first executive director, since 2017. Though distinct from the NBA’s version of the award, it carries significant prestige, being voted on by the 30 head coaches across the league. While the NBCA refrains from making the voting tallies public, it disclosed that coaches such as J.B. Bickerstaff of Detroit, Mark Daigneault of Oklahoma City, Ime Udoka of Houston, and former Denver coach Michael Malone, who was dismissed near the end of the regular season, received votes.
Rick Carlisle, leading the Indiana Pacers and serving as the NBCA’s long-time president, praised Atkinson, saying, “Kenny Atkinson has long been respected by his peers as an innovative and humble servant to the game.” Cleveland’s squad had the league’s second-best record for the season, trailing only Oklahoma City. They distinguished themselves by becoming the second team in NBA history to notch three separate winning streaks of at least 12 consecutive games.
Reflecting on his achievement, Atkinson remarked, “Coaching the game of basketball has been an amazing journey for me and my family, and to be recognized by my peers for a job well done this season is extremely humbling.” He acknowledged the role of his players, stating, “I’ve had the pleasure of coaching some amazing players over my career and I would not be in this position without their commitment and sacrifice for the greater good of themselves and the Cleveland Cavaliers.”
The accolade went to Daigneault in the previous year, while Mike Brown, Monty Williams, Mike Budenholzer, Billy Donovan, Dwane Casey, Mike D’Antoni, and Erik Spoelstra are among other past recipients. Atkinson will lead the Cavaliers against Spoelstra’s Miami Heat in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, set to begin in Cleveland on Sunday.
In addition, the NBA is preparing to announce its Coach of the Year finalists on Sunday night, alongside candidates for six other significant awards.