Cavalier attitude earns Atkinson top NBA coach honour
Turns out they were better than good.
And their coach was the NBA's best this season.
Atkinson is now an NBA Coach of the Year winner, announced on Monday night (Tuesday AEST) as this year's recipient of the Red Auerbach Trophy.
He led Cleveland to a 15-0 start to the season - one of three winning streaks of at least 12 games this season by his club - and led the Cavaliers to the best record in the Eastern Conference.
JB Bickerstaff was second in the voting, after pulling Detroit from the basement to the playoffs.
Ime Udoka was third, after guiding Houston's path to ending their five-year playoff drought.
Atkinson won the top gong by gaining 59 of the 100 first-place votes and appearing on 99 of the 100 ballots.
Bickerstaff got 31 first-place votes to finish second, while Udoka got seven first-place votes.
Atkinson led Cleveland to a 64-18 record and the No.1 seed in the East, doing so after Bickerstaff got fired following a run to the second round in Cleveland last season.
Bickerstaff was then hired by Detroit and turned a 14-win team into a 44-win team that earned the East's No.6 seed.
Udoka led Houston a 52-30 mark and the No.2 seed in the Western Conference.
The NBA Coach of the Year award, like several other honours, was voted on by a global panel of 100 writers and broadcasters who cover the league.
Other awards already unveiled include Atlanta's Australian superstar Dyson Daniels winning Most Improved Player, San Antonio's Stephon Castle named Rookie of the Year, and Cleveland's Evan Mobley being crowned Defensive Player of the Year.
Major awards to be announced later in the playoffs include MVP (either Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Denver's Nikola Jokic or Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo), plus the All-NBA, All-Rookie and All-Defensive teams.
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