Ever feel like the NBA Coach of the Year award is just a "Who Surprised Us Most" trophy? You aren't alone. Every year, when the ballots come in, fans of teams with 60 wins lose their minds because a coach with 45 wins and a bunch of rookies stole the spotlight. It’s the most subjective, narrative-driven award in basketball. Honestly, it's kinda beautiful and frustrating all at once.
If you’re looking for the definitive list of nba coach of the year winners & nominees, you have to understand the unwritten rules. Voters—a panel of about 100 sportswriters and broadcasters—usually ignore the guys who are expected to be great. If you have three All-Stars and win 55 games, people basically shrug. But if you were supposed to win 20 games and you somehow end up in the playoffs? Start clearing space on your mantle.
The Most Recent King of the Sidelines
Let’s talk about 2025. Kenny Atkinson absolutely cleaned up. After the Cleveland Cavaliers moved on from J.B. Bickerstaff, there was some skepticism. Then Atkinson led them to a 64-18 record. They started 15-0. You can’t argue with that. He didn’t just win; he dominated the voting with 59 first-place votes.
But look at the guys he beat. It tells you everything about how this award works.
J.B. Bickerstaff finished second. Think about that for a second. The Cavs fire him, he goes to the Detroit Pistons—who were basically the basement of the league—and he turns them into a 44-win playoff team. In any other year, Bickerstaff wins that easily. He took a team that had 14 wins the year before and tripled their success. That is the classic "COY narrative" right there.
Then you had Ime Udoka in third place. He took a Houston Rockets team that had been wandering in the desert for five years and finally dragged them into the postseason. These are the nominees that actually make the race interesting. It’s not just about who has the best record; it’s about who exceeded the "vibe check" of the preseason.
Recent NBA Coach of the Year Winners
If you look back at the last decade, you see a pattern. It’s a mix of "overachiever" and "historic dominance."
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- 2024-25: Kenny Atkinson (Cleveland Cavaliers) - 64 wins, #1 seed, offensive revolution.
- 2023-24: Mark Daigneault (Oklahoma City Thunder) - He took the youngest roster in the league to 57 wins and the top seed in the West. He was the heavy favorite for months.
- 2022-23: Mike Brown (Sacramento Kings) - The first unanimous winner ever. Why? Because he ended the longest playoff drought in North American pro sports. Narrative.
- 2021-22: Monty Williams (Phoenix Suns) - This was the "makeup" award after he narrowly lost the year before. The Suns won 64 games and were far and away the best team in the regular season.
- 2020-21: Tom Thibodeau (New York Knicks) - Classic Thibs. He took a Knicks team everyone thought would be terrible and made them a top-four seed through sheer grit and defense.
The 2026 Race: Who’s Currently Leading?
As we sit in early 2026, the race for nba coach of the year winners & nominees is already getting weird. Betting markets are flip-flopping every week.
Right now, J.B. Bickerstaff is the favorite again. It’s wild. After finishing second last year, his Pistons are currently sitting at the top of the Eastern Conference. If he holds that spot, it’s going to be very hard for voters to deny him two years in a row. He’s got that "redemption" story plus the "transformed a franchise" story. That’s like catnip for NBA writers.
Mark Daigneault is also right there in the mix. His Thunder just keep winning. They actually pulled off 68 wins last season, which is historically absurd. The problem for Daigneault is "voter fatigue." When you’re that good for that long, people start taking it for granted. He basically has to go for 70 wins to get people to notice him again.
Keep an eye on Erik Spoelstra too. Most people consider him the best coach in the world, yet he’s never won the award. Not once. Not even with the Big Three in Miami. He’s the "Leo DiCaprio before the Oscar" of NBA coaches. If the Heat overperform their roster talent—which they always do—voters might finally give him a lifetime achievement nod.
Why Some Legends Never Win
It’s sort of a joke in NBA circles that the best coaches don't win this award. Phil Jackson won it once. Once. He has 11 rings. Gregg Popovich has three of these trophies, which is tied for the most (alongside Don Nelson and Pat Riley), but he probably should have had ten.
The criteria is just so messy. Is it:
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- The coach who did the best job with the talent they had?
- The coach of the team with the best record?
- The coach who survived the most injuries?
Usually, it's a combination of #1 and #3. If you lose your star player and still win games, you're a genius. If you have a healthy LeBron James or Nikola Jokic, people assume the players are doing all the work. It’s unfair, but that’s the reality of the nba coach of the year winners & nominees cycle.
Historical Dominance: The Hall of Fame Names
If you want to see who has the most "Red Auerbach Trophies" (that's the official name of the award), the list is short at the top.
- Pat Riley: Won it with the Lakers (1990), Knicks (1993), and Heat (1997). Three different franchises. That’s incredible.
- Don Nelson: The innovator. Won it in 1983, 1985, and 1992. He was always ahead of the curve with "Nellie Ball."
- Gregg Popovich: 2003, 2012, 2014. He’s the gold standard for sustained excellence.
Interestingly, we haven't seen a back-to-back winner since... well, never. Nobody has ever won NBA Coach of the Year in consecutive seasons. Hubie Brown came close across different decades, and Gene Shue had a gap. But the "newness" of a successful story is what usually wins out. Once you win it, you’ve set the bar too high for yourself the next year.
How the Voting Actually Works
It’s a points-based system. Each voter picks three coaches:
- First Place: 5 points
- Second Place: 3 points
- Third Place: 1 point
The coach with the most total points wins. Sometimes the guy with the most first-place votes doesn't even win if enough people put another coach in the second spot. It’s rare, but it happens. The announcement usually comes during the first round of the playoffs, which is always awkward when the "Coach of the Year" is currently getting swept by an 8-seed. Looking at you, George Karl in 2013.
What to Watch for the Rest of the Season
If you’re trying to predict the next batch of nba coach of the year winners & nominees, look at the standings vs. preseason expectations.
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Check the "Over/Under" win totals from the start of the year. If a team was projected for 32 wins and they have 48, that coach is a lock for a nomination.
- The "Lurker": Darko Rajakovic in Toronto. The Raptors are playing way better than anyone thought.
- The "Narrative": JJ Redick. If the Lakers actually finish in the top three in the West, the media hype will be unavoidable.
- The "Prodigy": Mitch Johnson in San Antonio. Stepping in for Pop is hard, but coaching Victor Wembanyama makes you look like a tactical mastermind pretty quickly.
To really get ahead of the curve, keep a spreadsheet of team injuries. The coach who stays afloat while their roster is in the hospital usually climbs the rankings by March.
Start looking at the schedules for the final twenty games. A "late season surge" often sticks in voters' minds more than a hot start in November. If a team goes 15-5 in April to grab the 4th seed, that coach is going to be all over the "Finalists" graphic on TNT.
Actionable Steps for NBA Fans
If you want to follow the Coach of the Year race like a pro, stop looking at the win-loss column alone.
First, track the "Net Rating" of teams—this shows how much they dominate regardless of luck. Second, listen to player interviews; when stars like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Donovan Mitchell go out of their way to credit their coach's "system," voters notice.
Finally, keep an eye on the National Basketball Coaches Association (NBCA) award. The coaches vote on this themselves before the media award is announced. Usually, the winner of the NBCA award (like Kenny Atkinson last year) is a massive spoiler for who will take home the official Red Auerbach Trophy.