Atlanta Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer has officially been named the NBA’s Coach of the Year after leading his team to a franchise-record 60 wins and the no. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. This was just Budenholzer’s second year coaching the Hawks.
Budenholzer received 67 first first place votes and 58 second place votes, and finished with 513 total points, finishing ahead of Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr, who had 471 points. The Hawks boasted four All-Stars in Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver, Paul Milsap, and Al Horford. Their starting 5 shared the conference player of the week award; an award that has never gone to more than one player in a single week.
After spending 18 years as an assistant coach in San Antonio, Budenholzer brought a similar style of play to the Hawks, earning them the moniker “Spurs of the East.”
The Hawks lead currently lead the Brooklyn Nets 1-0 in the first round of the playoffs. Game 2 will tip off on Wednesday the 21st at 7 pm ET.
Steve Kerr(Warriors), Jason Kidd(Bucks), Brad Stevens(Celtics), and Gregg Popovich(Spurs) round out he top five of the Coach of the Year award.
The full voting breakdown can be found here.
