Kenny Atkinson went through a winless preseason with the Cleveland Cavaliers and wondered if his team would be any good.
Turns out, they were better than good.
And their coach — he was the NBA's best this season.
Atkinson is now an NBA Coach of the Year winner, announced Monday night as this year's recipient of the Red Auerbach Trophy. Atkinson led Cleveland to a 15-0 start to the season — one of three winning streaks of at least 12 games this season by his club — and led the Cavaliers to the best record in the Eastern Conference.
“I stepped into this,” Atkinson said. “I keep saying that, that I stepped into this. It's a little bit of luck too, right?”
J.B. Bickerstaff was second in the voting, after pulling Detroit from the basement to the playoffs. Ime Udoka was third, after guiding Houston's path to ending its five-year playoff drought.
All three did elite jobs this season. But none better than Atkinson.
All were coach of the year candidates previously. Bickerstaff has gotten votes now in each of the last four seasons, Udoka has gotten votes in all three of his seasons as a head coach and Atkinson finished fifth in the voting for the 2018-19 season, when he coached Brooklyn.
This was the best finish in the voting for each of this year's finalists. And for Atkinson, it was a sweep: He also won the National Basketball Coaches Association's coach of the year award, one that is separate from the official NBA award and is voted on by other head coaches.
“I almost broke down when I got that,” Atkinson said. “Like, to think [Rick] Carlisle voted for me, that [Erik] Spoelstra voted for me ... that's like the pinnacle.”
Atkinson won the NBA award. unveiled Monday night on a TNT broadcast, by a comfortable margin — getting 59 of the 100 first-place votes and appearing on 99 of the 100 ballots. Bickerstaff got 31 first-place votes to finish second, while Udoka got seven first-place votes to finish third.
Oklahoma City’s Mark Daigneault (two first-place votes) was fourth. Tyronn Lue of the Los Angeles Clippers got the other first-place vote and finished fifth, and JJ Redick of the Los Angeles Lakers was sixth.
Atkinson went to the Cavaliers after spending the most recent three seasons as an assistant with Golden State under Warriors coach Steve Kerr. Atkinson said he learned a ton from that experience, lessons he applied this season in Cleveland and obviously had great success with.
“My time with Steve, I call it finishing school,” Atkinson said on the TNT broadcast. “I was your typical, kind of hard-nosed coach. And just being around Steve and observing how he conducted practices, how he communicated with his stars, how he included the whole roster in his thought process, it just made me a better coach. Really thankful for the experience and it’s made me who I am today.”
Atkinson and Bickerstaff both flourished in Year 1 of their current stints. Atkinson led Cleveland to a 64-18 record and the No. 1 seed in the East — doing so after Bickerstaff got fired following a run to the second round in Cleveland last season. Bickerstaff was then hired by Detroit and turned a 14-win team into a 44-win team that earned the East's No. 6 seed.
Udoka led Houston a 52-30 mark and the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.
The NBA Coach of the Year award, like several other honors, was voted on by a global panel of 100 writers and broadcasters who cover the league and cast ballots shortly after the end of the regular season.
The other awards that were part of that voting process and have already had their results unveiled: Atlanta's Dyson Daniels winning Most Improved Player, San Antonio’s Stephon Castle winning Rookie of the Year, Cleveland’s Evan Mobley winning Defensive Player of the Year, New York’s Jalen Brunson winning Clutch Player of the Year, and Boston’s Payton Pritchard winning Sixth Man of the Year.
Other awards announced by the league since the end of the regular season: Golden State’s Stephen Curry won the Twyman-Stokes teammate of the year award, Warriors teammate Draymond Green won the hustle award and Boston's Jrue Holiday won the sportsmanship award for the second time in his career. The executive of the year will be revealed Tuesday and the league's social justice champion will be revealed Wednesday.
Major awards that will be announced later in the playoffs include MVP (either Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Denver’s Nikola Jokic or Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo), plus the All-NBA, All-Rookie and All-Defensive teams.
