NBA coach of the year breakdown
Los Angeles Clippers coach Ty Lue did a fantastic job this year despite not having his best player for the entire season and his second-best player for less than half the season.
Chicago coach Billy Donovan had the Bulls among the top teams in the East for a good portion of the season with a revamped roster.
First-year Boston coach Ime Udoka started the season 18-21 and finished 3310 for a 51-win season, the No. 2 seed in the East and top-rated defense in the NBA. None will finish in the top 3 for NBA coach of the year.
That’s even before mentioning what J.B. Bickerstaff did with Cleveland, Nick Nurse with Toronto, Doc Rivers with Philadelphia, Steve Kerr with Golden State, Jason Kidd with Dallas, Michael Malone with Denver, Chris Finch with Minnesota and Willie Green with New Orleans, which started the season 3-16 and made the playoffs.
That’s how good the coaching jobs were this season.
Memphis’ Taylor Jenkins, Miami’s Erik Spoelstra and Phoenix’s Monty Williams are the finalists for the award, and as difficult as it was to narrow a submission to three coaches, it was more difficult to put them in order 1-2-3.
Just like MVP and rookie of the year, you can make a strong case for each of the three finalists and not be wrong despite what the know-it-alls say. (It’s worth recognizing that Nurse, Finch and Jenkins had G League coaching experience, showing that league is great place to gain head coaching experience.)
I’ve said this a hundred-plus times. It’s a player’s league, but coaches and their staffs have a significant influence on wins and losses from game planning to rotations to in-game play calling.
Let’s take the three finalists in alphabetical order.
Memphis’ Taylor Jenkins. Outside of Memphis and hardcore basketball fans, not many could ID Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins, an economics major at Penn, in a lineup. In his third season, the Grizzlies have improved year over year, from 34 victories to 38 to 56 this season.
The 18-win leap was not expected even from a 72-game schedule last season to an 82-game schedule this season. Sure, the Grizzlies had a talented but youthful squad but finishing with the league’s second-best record exceeded expectations. The Grizzlies are ahead of schedule, and Jenkins is a major reason why.
Led by 22-year-old Ja Morant offensively and 22-year-old Jaren Jackson Jr. defensively, the Grizzlies had the No. 4 offense and No. 6 defense – one of two teams (Phoenix being the other) in the top six in both categories.
Jenkins makes use of his deep roster, too, with 12 players getting at least 13 minutes per game and 10 players averaging at least 6.9 points. Of Memphis’ top six scorers – all averaging double figures – Dillon Brooks is the oldest at 26. Jenkins and his staff have been excellent in the important area of player development.
Morant is an All-NBA and Most Improved candidate, Jackson an All-Defensive team candidate, Desmond Bane should receive votes for Most Improved and De’Anthony Melton will get recognition in the Sixth Man of the Year voting.
Miami’s Erik Spoelstra.
Erik Spoelstra was named one of the league’s 15 greatest coaches of all-time by the NBA – the only one on the list without a coach of the year award. And Spoelstra should have at least one coach of the year. He was underappreciated for what he did in coaching LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh and getting them out of their comfort zone to play in ways they hadn’t before.
But even without that coach of the year award, other coaches and scouts recognize how outstanding Spoelstra is in both preparation, in-game management, play calling and player development.
Yes, the Heat were expected to be good this season with Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson and the addition of Kyle Lowry and P.J. Tucker. But injuries had players and personal reasons had players in and out of the lineup all season.
Adebayo missed 26 games, Butler missed 25 games, Lowry 19 and Herro 16. Butler and Lowry were on the court together for just 41 games, and Butler, Adebayo and Lowry for just 38 games.
How did the Heat manage to win 53 games and the top seed in the East? Miami plays hard on both ends of the court – both a sign of coaching and dedicated players – and it maximized from Herro, a leading Sixth Man of the year candidate, Robinson, Max Strus, Caleb Martin, Gabe Vincent and Dewayne Dedmon.
Phoenix’s Monty Williams.
Monty Williams followed up last season’s 51-win season and Finals appearance with a franchise-record 64 victories and start-to-finish dominance in the Western Conference that included an 18-game winning streak, no more than two consecutive losses and a stellar 32-9 road record.
Phoenix was the only team in the league that ranked top five in offense (fifth) and defense (third), and the Suns owned the NBA’s best net-rating.
Big expectations were on the Suns, and they surpassed them with every opponent gunning to knock off the defending Western Conference champs each game. That’s not easy, and Williams guided the Suns through a long season with a deft touch.
Williams also helped navigate the Suns through a 15-game stretch without Chris Paul late in the season. The Suns went 11-4.
Devin Booker is an MVP and All-NBA candidate, Mikal Bridges was a Defensive Player of the Year finalist, Cam Johnson is a finalist for Sixth Man of the Year and Paul may make one of the AllDefensive teams.
He’s also the kind of coach today’s players enjoy competing for – a former player who is not a pushover, requires accountability but is there for his guys.
His fellow NBA coaches voted Williams the National Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season, and as Hall of Famer Bill Russell likes to say, there is no greater recognition than that from your peers.