OKC Head Coach Mark Daigneault awarded coach of the year

Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault is the 2024 recipient of the Michael H. Goldberg NBCA Coach of the Year Award, the National Basketball Coaches Association announced today.

The Michael H. Goldberg NBCA Coach of the Year Award recognizes the dedication, commitment, and hard work of NBA Head Coaches and is presented annually to a Head Coach who helps guide his players to a higher level of performance on the court and shows outstanding service and dedication to the community off the court. It honors the spirit of Mr. Goldberg, the esteemed long-time Executive Director of the NBCA, who set the standard for loyalty, integrity, love of the game, passionate representation, and tireless promotion of NBA coaching. The award is unique in that it is voted upon by the winners’ peers, the Head Coaches of all 30 NBA teams.

"Also receiving votes: Cleveland's J.B. Bickerstaff, Minnesota's Chris Finch, Boston's Joe Mazzulla and Orlando's Jamahl Mosley."

Daigneault has done a great job coaching the Thunder. Considering the youth on that team, he has taken them to the top of the Western Conference and that is rare. Young players as a collective group normally struggle to play consistent basketball at both ends of the court.

We'll see if Daigneault now wins the NBA Coach of the Year as well.

5 of the last 7 NBCA winners have also won NBA Coach of the year (The Red Auerbach Trophy), so his chances are good.

The other favored candidates for NBA Coach of the Year? Joe Mazzulla along with Finch and Mosley. Basically the same group as NBCA candidates.

NYCelt wrote:We'll see if Daigneault now wins the NBA Coach of the Year as well.

5 of the last 7 NBCA winners have also won NBA Coach of the year (The Red Auerbach Trophy), so his chances are good.

The other favored candidates for NBA Coach of the Year? Joe Mazzulla along with Finch and Mosley. Basically the same group as NBCA candidates.

Since its' inception in 2017, 5 out of 7 coaches that won the NBCA also won the Red Auerbach coach of the year award.  

CJ will get votes but I do not think he will win it.  Expectations for the Celtics have been sky high all year.  So he may get penalized since his team was championship level talent at the beginning of the season.  OKC only won 40 games last year and were a  +17 this year with 57 wins.

Can't remember if it was Red or Bill who said it...probably Bill.  You can have the individual accolades.  We'll take the championship trophy.  Something like that.  

db

P.S. I really do feel someone is going to knock DEN off their perch. Might be LAL, might be OKC. Either way, we win!!