Basketball <\/p>\n
Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson<\/a> has won the Michael H. Goldberg award for the 2024-25 season, earning Coach of the Year from the National Basketball Coaches Association, according to a press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n This award, introduced in 2017 and named after longtime NBCA executive director Michael H. Goldberg, is voted on by the NBA\u2019s 30 head coaches, none of whom can vote for himself.<\/p>\n It isn\u2019t the NBA\u2019s official Coach of the Year award, which is voted on by media members and is represented by the Red Auerbach Trophy. The winner of that award will be announced later this spring.<\/p>\n J.B. Bickerstaff (Pistons), Mark Daigneault (Thunder), Ime Udoka (Rockets) and \u2014 interestingly \u2014 Michael Malone (Nuggets) also received votes from their fellow coaches for this year\u2019s NBCA award. Malone was let go by Denver earlier this month.<\/p>\n Atkinson was hired by the Cavaliers last June and was tasked with turning the team into a legitimate title contender following a 48-win season and a second-round playoff exit. Despite the fact that Cleveland\u2019s roster didn\u2019t undergo any major changes last summer, the team had one of the best years in franchise history, racking up 64 wins and holding the No. 1 spot in the Eastern Conference for nearly the entire season.<\/p>\n After the Cavs placed 16th in the NBA with a 114.7 offensive rating in 2023-24, Atkinson helped turn the unit into the league\u2019s top-ranked offense in 2024-25 \u2014 Cleveland\u2019s 121.0 offensive rating led the league by a comfortable margin. The club also ranked eighth in defensive rating (111.8) and third in overall net rating (+9.2).<\/p>\n The NBCA Coach of the Year award has frequently been a bellwether for the NBA\u2019s Coach of the Year honor, which bodes well for Atkinson. In six of the eight years since the award\u2019s inception, the winner has gone on to be named the NBA\u2019s Coach of the Year, including in 2024 when Daigneault won both awards.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n