Although Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr missed the first 43 games this year nursing a back injury, the imprint he placed on the Warriors helped lead the team to a 39-4 mark, the best start in NBA history (Luke Walton was the interim coach). And when he returned, the Warriors finished 34-5 to end the season with a 73-9 record, the best NBA regular season in history. With what he’s done in Golden State, an NBA championship in his first year and the NBA record for best regular season, it was only right for the NBA to award him as NBA Coach of the Year for the 2015-16 season.
Via ESPN:
Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors has won the NBA’s Coach of the Year award for the 2015-16 season, it was announced Tuesday.
Kerr is expected to receive the trophy prior to Game 5 of the Warriors’ first-round series against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.
Complications from two offseason back surgeries forced Kerr to miss the first 43 games of Golden State’s title defense — with interim coach Luke Walton posting a record of 39-4 in Kerr’s absence — but he ultimately won the balloting in a very deep field not only for his coaching but his role in building the culture that put the Warriors on a path for a record-setting 73 wins.
Kerr receiving 64 first-place votes and 381 points in balloting among sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the U.S. and Canada. Portland’s Terry Stotts was second with 335 points, while the Spurs’ Gregg Popovich was third with 166 points. Walton tied for eighth with 5 points.
If Kerr can have the same success in the playoffs once again, it will prove his talent as a coach is truly undeniable.
