The Coach of the Year Award was won unanimously by Mike Brown last season. He became the first coach to win that specific award like that. Let’s look at the history of the award and the criteria used to find the future winners.
History of the Coach of the Year Award
The NBA started to give out the Coach of the Year Award starting in the 1962-63 season. The winner earned the Red Auerbach Trophy, which was named in his honor after he led the Boston Celtics to nine championships from 1956-1966.
The Coach of the Year Award is selected by a panel of sportswriters from the USA and Canada. Those writers vote on their top three candidates, with first place being worth five points, second place worth two points, and third place being worth one point. The coach with the highest point total wins the award, regardless of how many first-place votes they got.
This award has been given to 40 different head coaches through the 2022-23 season. They’ve had four coaches win the award three times each, and eight other coaches win it at least twice.
However, no coach has ever won the award in back-to-back seasons, and no coach has won the award with three different teams other than Pay Riley.
How To Bet The Coach of the Year Award
To bet on the Coach of the Year Award, make sure to open up your favorite NBA sports betting app or website and go to the NBA futures markets. From there, you’ll find the Coach of the Year award, with 30 names and plenty of different odds.
After doing your research, select the coach you believe has the most value or highest potential of winning the Award. After you wager, you’ll have to wait until after the season to know if your wager won.
The Last 10 Coach of the Years
- Mike Brown (Sacramento Kings 2022-23)
- Monty Williams (Phoenix Suns 2021-22)
- Tom Thibodeau (New York Knicks 2020-21)
- Nick Nurse (Toronto Raptors 2019-20)
- Mike Budenholzer (Milwaukee Bucks 2018-19)
- Dwane Casey (Toronto Raptors 2017-18)
- Mike D’Antoni (Houston Rockets 2016-17)
- Steve Kerr (Golden State Warriors 2015-16)
- Mike Budenholzer (Atlanta Hawks 2014-15)
- Gregg Popovich (San Antonio Spurs 2013-14)
Only one coach won the award twice in the last two years. However, it was Mike Budenholzer who won the award with two different teams. Funny enough, Budenholzer is currently unemployed after being fired last season, despite winning over 70% of his games last year.
Talent On The Team Matters
There are some coaches that have the magic touch. Some coaches can turn around a franchise or team within a season or two. But the reality is that most coaches need talent to win games.
Take Monty Williams, for example. Williams was highly regarded as one of the best coaches in the NBA in 2021-22. He led the Suns to a 64-18 record and won 78% of games in the regular season. He didn’t have Kevin Durant or Bradley Beal. He also didn’t have Jusuf Nurkic. But he had his guys playing hard every night, and the chemistry was perfect.
Fast forward a couple of years, and Williams is the head coach of the Pistons. The Pistons have only won three games as of January 11 and have one of the worst teams in NBA history. Williams went from coaching a 64-win team to a three-win team in just two seasons.
A coach needs buy-in. He needs cohesion and chemistry and guys who want to win without complaining.
For example, Mike Brown won the award last season. He helped the Kings to their first playoffs in an extremely long time. He was able to get the Kings to believe, but he also had lots of talent, including De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis. If the coach has buy-in and great players, it’s usually a solid marriage. Those are the kinds of coaches that you’re looking for when betting on this market.
Tidbits
Doc Rivers is the only coach to win the award despite not making the playoffs. He coached the Magic to a 41-41 record in 1999-2000 and still turned heads with a .500 record. Meanwhile, Johnny Kerr is the only coach who won the award with a losing record of 33-48. However, he was honored for taking the Bulls into the playoffs in their first season in the league.
Finally, last year, Mike Brown became the first unanimous Coach of the Year recipient in NBA history. It’s typically a tighter race when it comes to the Coach of the Year. We won’t see a ton of unanimous winners in most seasons in the NBA.
