Atlanta Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer has been named the 2014-15 NBA Coach of the Year. In just his second season as Hawks head coach, Budenholzer led Atlanta to 60 wins and the top record in the Eastern Conference.
Mike Budenholzer named Coach of the Year
Budenholzer led the Hawks to 60 wins and the top seed in the Eastern Conference in just his second season at the helm.
Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
Budenholzer received 67 first-place votes and 513 total points, edging out Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, who got 56 first-place votes and 471 total points after leading the Warriors to a league-best 67-15 record.
Milwaukee Bucks headmaster Jason Kidd finished a distant third with just 57 total points, while Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens finished just behind Kidd in fourth. Both Kidd and Stevens took their squads on surprising runs to the playoffs this season after their respective teams had poor 2013-14 campaigns. San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich rounds out the top five in the voting.
Budenholzer wins this award just two years after coming to the Hawks from Popovich’s staff in San Antonio. The 45-year-old has implemented a Spurs-like system in Atlanta, which helped transform the Hawks into an elite team on both sides of the ball this season.
Atlanta finished sixth in offensive rating and seventh in defensive rating this season, making the Hawks just one of four teams to finish in the top 10 in both categories, per NBA.com.
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