NBA Coach of the Year Award

National Basketball Association awards and honors Championship  • O'Brien Trophy  • Brown Trophy (defunct) Individual awards  • All-Star Game MVP  • Most Improved Player  • Bill Russell Finals MVP  • Most Valuable Player  • Coach of the Year  • Rookie of the Year  • Defensive Player of the Year  • Sixth Man of the Year  • Executive of the Year  • Sportsmanship Award  • J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award Honors  • All-NBA Team  • All-Defensive Team  • All-Rookie Team This box: view • talk • edit Hall of Famer Red Auerbach won the award in the 1964–65 season. 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 is the most recent award winner.

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 39 different coaches. The most recent award winner is Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown.^[2] 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.^[3] Larry Bird is the only recipient to have also been named MVP as a player. 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.^[4]

Winners

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

Notes

• ^a  Was selected as one of the Top 10 Coaches in NBA History^[5]
• ^b  Mike D'Antoni also holds Italian citizenship.^[6]

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