Mike Brown becomes first unanimous winner of NBA Coach of the Year award

Mike Brown (Keith Allison, Wikimedia Commons)

The NBA Awards continued on Wednesday. In a unanimous selection, Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown of Columbus, Ohio was named the 2023 National Basketball Association coach of the year. This past year the Kings had a record of 48 wins and 34 losses, which was an 18 win improvement from the previous year when they had a record of 30 wins and 52 losses.

This was Brown’s first season as the Kings head coach, and there is no doubt he delivered. He took over from Alvin Gentry, who was relieved of his duties on April 11, 2022.

The success of the Kings this season was significant. It was the first time since the 2006 NBA season that Sacramento made the postseason.

This was the first time in the history of the NBA that the coach of the year won with a unanimous selection. Mark Daignault of the Oklahoma City Thunder was in second place and Joe Mazzulla of the Boston Celtics was in third place. Brown won with all 100 first place votes for 500 points overall. Daignault had 48 second place votes and 20 third place votes for 164 points. Mazzulla had 18 second place votes and 23 third place votes for 77 points.

Brown became the 11th NBA coach all-time to win the award twice. He previously was named the NBA Coach of the Year while with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2009. The other 10 NBA coaches to win the award a minimum of two times were Don Nelson, Pat Riley, Gregg Popovich, Gene Shue, Bill Fitch, Hubie Brown, Cotton Fitzsimmons, Mike D’Antoni, Mike Budenholzer and Tom Thibodeau.

The Kings meanwhile are in the NBA postseason. They currently lead the Golden State Warriors two games to none.

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