Cavs' Kenny Atkinson Named NBCA's NBA Coach of the Year After Earning Top Seed

After leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to one of the best seasons in franchise history, Kenny Atkinson has been recognized by his peers as the NBA's best coach for the 2024-25 campaign.

The National Basketball Coaches Association announced on Saturday that Atkinson won their NBA Coach of the Year award.

Other coaches who received votes, listed in alphabetical order, include J.B. Bickerstaff of the Detroit Pistons, Mark Daigneault of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Michael Malone of the Denver Nuggets and Ime Udoka of the Houston Rockets.

Atkinson issued a statement included in the NBCA's announcement:

"Coaching the game of basketball has been an amazing journey for me and my family, and to be recognized by my peers for a job well done this season is extremely humbling. I’ve had the pleasure of coaching some amazing players over my career and I would not be in this position without their commitment and sacrifice for the greater good of themselves and the Cleveland Cavaliers."

The NBCA did not release vote totals for the award. Atkinson and Bickerstaff are arguably the two frontrunners for the Red Auerbach Trophy awarded to the best coach as voted on by the media.

Malone's inclusion on the list is interesting since he was fired by the Nuggets with three games remaining in the regular season. Daigneault, winner of the NBCA award last year, led the Thunder to an NBA-best 68-14 record. Udoka led the Rockets to the playoffs for the first time since 2019-20 with a 52-30 record.

Atkinson replaced Bickerstaff in Cleveland when he was hired in June 2024. He took over a pretty good situation with a Cavs team that made the playoffs in each of the previous two seasons under Bickerstaff.

The Cavaliers took a huge leap forward under Atkinson. They earned the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs and won 64 games, the second-most victories in a single season in franchise history.

Cleveland's 16-win improvement from the 2023-24 season was the second-biggest increase in the NBA, trailing only the Pistons (14 wins in 2023-24 to 44).

This season marks the fourth time the Cavs have posted the best record in the East. The last time it happened was during the 2015-16 season when they won the NBA Finals.