Erik Spoelstra, Mike D’Antoni Named NBCA COY Winners
The National Basketball Coaches Association has named Mike D’Antoni and Erik Spoelstra as co-winners of their inaugural NBA Coach of the Year award
The conventional NBA awards (voted by the media) will be announced after the season, although the National Basketball Coaches Association, in their inaugural awards, has named Mike D’Antoni and Erik Spoelstra co-winners of their Michael H. Goldberg NBA Coach of the Year award.
Both Spo and D’Antoni will likely be in the running for the media’s version of the award, but it’s nice to see both of these coaches get their deserved recognition from their peers.
"[via NBACoaches.com]"
More from Sir Charles In Charge
- Dillon Brooks proved his value to Houston Rockets in the 2023 FIBA World Cup
- NBA Trade Rumors: 1 Player from each team most likely to be traded in-season
- Golden State Warriors: Buy or sell Chris Paul being a day 1 starter
- Does Christian Wood make the Los Angeles Lakers a legit contender?
- NBA Power Rankings: Tiering all 30 projected starting point guards for 2023-24
"The voting for this year’s award illustrates the depth of coaching excellence in the NBA as 9 of the 30 Head Coaches received votes. In addition to D’Antoni and Spoelstra, the following coaches also received votes: Scott Brooks, Dave Fizdale, Steve Kerr, Jason Kidd, Gregg Popovich, Doc Rivers and Quin Snyder."
D’Antoni was hired last summer by the Houston Rockets, and helped lead them to the second round of the Western Conference playoffs after finishing with a 55-27 record (third in the West). Before joining the Rockets this season, D’Antoni last coached the Los Angeles Lakers two seasons before being fired.
Spoelstra led a makeshift Miami Heat team, one that had just lost Chris Bosh (health reasons) and Dwyane Wade (free agency), to a 41-41 record.
During the second half the season, the Heat went 30-11. Still, it wasn’t enough to secure a playoff spot in the East, as they finished in 9th.
Must Read: It's Time For The Toronto Raptors To Blow It Up
Spoelstra is one of the NBA’s longest tenured coaches in the league, having coached the Heat for the past nine seasons. During that time, he’s only coached the team to one season under .500. He’s also led the Heat to two NBA Championships (four NBA Finals appearances), but has never won the NBA’s Coach of the Year award.