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. 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. Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau won the award in the 2010–11 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 San Antonio Spurs' head coach Gregg Popovich. Don Nelson and Pat Riley each won the award three times, while Hubie Brown, Bill Fitch, Cotton Fitzsimmons, Gregg Popovich and Gene Shue have each won it twice. No coach has won consecutive Coach of the Year awards. 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

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] (2)	United States	Boston Celtics	61–21	.744
1980–81	McKinney, JackJack McKinney	United States	Indiana Pacers	44–38	.537
1981–82	Shue, GeneGene Shue (2)	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] (2)	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 (2)	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] (3)	United States	Golden State Warriors	55–27	.671
1992–93	Riley, PatPat Riley*[a] (2)	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] (3)	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 (2)	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
2011–12	Popovich, GreggGregg Popovich^ (2)	United States	San Antonio Spurs	50–16	.758

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