Latest news with #NBACoachoftheYear
USA Today
a day ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Former Warriors coach Don Nelson honored with 2025 Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award
Former Warriors coach Don Nelson honored with 2025 Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award On Sunday, former Golden State Warriors head coach Don Nelson was honored with an esteemed award from the NBA community. At Game 2 of the NBA Finals, Nelson was presented with the 2025 Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award. According to the NBA, the award "honors the life of Hall of Fame coach Chuck Daly, who, over an outstanding NBA coaching career, set a standard for integrity, competitive excellence, and tireless promotion of NBA basketball." The recipient of the award is determined by a selection committee of former coaches and executives. Over 31 seasons on the sideline in the NBA, Nelson coached to the Milwaukee Bucks, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks and Dallas Mavericks. Nelson is one of only two coaches in NBA history to lead three teams to at least 250 wins. Nelson was named NBA Coach of the Year three times (1983, 1985 and 1992). Nelson spent 11 seasons as the Warriors' head coach, posting a 422-443 record, earning trips to the playoffs four times. Nelson was the architect of two memorable eras of Golden State basketball. Nelson helped form the "Run TMC" group with Chris Mullin, Tim Hardaway and Mitch Richmond. Nelson was also on the sidelines for Golden State's "We Believe" playoff run in 2007. Nelson used his acceptance of the award to protest the Mavericks' trade of Luka Doncic. While accepting the award, Nelson wore Doncic's latest signature shoe from Jordan as a form of protest. Nelson spent eight seasons as the coach of the Mavericks. Nelson is the third member of the Golden State Warriors to earn the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award, joining Al Attles and Rick Adelman. This post originally appeared on Warriors Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
Yahoo
a day ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Former Warriors coach Don Nelson honored with 2025 Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award
On Sunday, former Golden State Warriors head coach Don Nelson was honored with an esteemed award from the NBA community. At Game 2 of the NBA Finals, Nelson was presented with the 2025 Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award. According to the NBA, the award "honors the life of Hall of Fame coach Chuck Daly, who, over an outstanding NBA coaching career, set a standard for integrity, competitive excellence, and tireless promotion of NBA basketball." The recipient of the award is determined by a selection committee of former coaches and executives. Over 31 seasons on the sideline in the NBA, Nelson coached to the Milwaukee Bucks, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks and Dallas Mavericks. Nelson is one of only two coaches in NBA history to lead three teams to at least 250 wins. Nelson was named NBA Coach of the Year three times (1983, 1985 and 1992). Advertisement Nelson spent 11 seasons as the Warriors' head coach, posting a 422-443 record, earning trips to the playoffs four times. Nelson was the architect of two memorable eras of Golden State basketball. Nelson helped form the "Run TMC" group with Chris Mullin, Tim Hardaway and Mitch Richmond. Nelson was also on the sidelines for Golden State's "We Believe" playoff run in 2007. Nelson used his acceptance of the award to protest the Mavericks' trade of Luka Doncic. While accepting the award, Nelson wore Doncic's latest signature shoe from Jordan as a form of protest. Nelson spent eight seasons as the coach of the Mavericks. Nelson is the third member of the Golden State Warriors to earn the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award, joining Al Attles and Rick Adelman. Advertisement This post originally appeared on Warriors Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! This article originally appeared on Warriors Wire: Don Nelson named 2025 Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award winner
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Who is Mark Daigneault? Meet the Thunder's young star head coach
Who is Mark Daigneault? Meet the Thunder's young star head coach originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia Just a year after a young head coach won the NBA Finals, the 2025 championship matchup could feature a similar scenario. Advertisement Last season, Joe Mazzulla became the youngest head coach since 1970 to win the NBA championship when the Boston Celtics topped the Dallas Mavericks in five games. Mazzulla was 35 years and 353 days old at the time. In the 2025 NBA Finals, Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault would still be one of the youngest head coaches to win a championship. Daigneault is in his first NBA head-coaching role after taking over in 2020. He was the head coach of Oklahoma City's developmental team, the Blue, from 2014 to 2019 following some years as an assistant coach at the college level. Now in the fifth year of his job, Daigneault can help Oklahoma City make history with a series win when it faces the Indiana Pacers, led by head coach Rick Carlisle, who has two NBA rings to his name (in 1986 as a player and in 2011 as the Mavs' head coach). Advertisement Here's everything to know about Daigneault, the Thunder head coach: Who is the Oklahoma City Thunder's head coach? The Thunder head coach is Mark Daigneault. Where is Mark Daigneault from? Daigneault is a Massachusetts native. He was born in Leominster, Worcester County. How old is Mark Daigneault? Daigneault is 40 years old. He was born on Feb. 23, 1985. Did Mark Daigneault play in the NBA? No, Daigneault did not play basketball at college or the NBA but attended UConn and Florida. How many teams has Mark Daigneault coached? Daigneault has just coached the Thunder at the professional level. He joined in 2020 and has seen a steady growth from record and playoff-run standpoints. What is Mark Daigneault's record with the Thunder? Here's a year-by-year look at Daigneault's record since joining Oklahoma City: Advertisement 2020-21: 22-50 2021-22: 24-58 2022-23: 40-42 2023-24: 57-25 (lost in second round to Dallas 4-2) 2024-25: 68-14 (NBA championship finalists) What is Mark Daigneault's coaching style? Daigneault is a progressive coach who continuously adds to his clipboard with new tactics and schemes. He's been touted as open-minded and innovative, finding new ways to optimize his players, such as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander becoming the league MVP and Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren developing into top-three players on a championship finalist team. Aaron Wiggins, Isaiah Joe and Cason Wallace are also examples of players on the squad who improved and moved into key roles under Daigneault. What are Mark Daigneault's coaching accolades? Since joining the Thunder in 2020, Daigneault has won the NBA Coach of the Year award once, in 2023-24. He was named an NBA All-Star Game coach in 2025. He could add an NBA title to his resume should Oklahoma City beat Indiana for the franchise's first ever championship, too.
USA Today
6 days ago
- Business
- USA Today
Report: Rockets, Ime Udoka won't entertain interest from Knicks
Report: Rockets, Ime Udoka won't entertain interest from Knicks The Knicks reportedly have interest in Ime Udoka, but it seems neither the Rockets nor Houston's head coach has interest in New York. With a sudden coaching vacancy, the New York Knicks reportedly have interest in Ime Udoka. But that interest doesn't seem to be reciprocated by either the Rockets or Houston's head coach. 'Regarding reports identifying Ime Udoka as a possible target for the vacant Knicks coaching position, Houston has no interest in entertaining that,' The Athletic's Kelly Iko writes, citing a team source. 'Both parties are committed to the long-term project and are actively preparing for a busy offseason.' As things stand, Udoka is midway through a four-year contract that he signed in April 2023 to coach the Rockets. Thus, the Knicks and Rockets would need to come to some sort of compensation agreement in order for Udoka to be let out of his existing deal, and it doesn't seem there's any interest from the Houston side in exploring that. The Rockets have improved significantly in Udoka's two seasons with the team, and he just finished third in 2024-25 NBA Coach of the Year voting. He's under contract for multiple seasons moving forward and is viewed internally as a foundational piece. Thus, there is zero interest from Houston in parting ways. From a practical standpoint, the interest from the Knicks could perhaps be used by Udoka and his representatives in eventual talks regarding a contract extension. Salaries for NBA coaches have risen in the two-plus years since Udoka signed his initial deal with the Rockets, and coaches rarely enter the final 'lame duck' year of their contracts. Thus, at some point prior to the 2026-27 season, it's likely that Udoka and the Rockets will enter into a new round of negotiations. In that negotiating context, interest from other teams around the league can build up Udoka's market, and it helps to be publicly viewed as desirable. But there remain no indications that he wants to leave Houston, and the team certainly wants to keep him around, as well. Though the Knicks (51-31) made it to the conference finals in a weaker Eastern Conference, they actually had a worse record than the Rockets (52-30), even with Houston facing a tougher West schedule. Combine that with Houston having a younger roster with more room for internal improvement and a better future draft outlook, and it would seem that the Rockets are the superior situation from a basketball standpoint, as well. More: Reports: With sudden coaching vacancy, Knicks intrigued by Houston's Ime Udoka
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Reports: With sudden coaching vacancy, Knicks intrigued by Houston's Ime Udoka
In the aftermath of the New York Knicks relieving Tom Thibodeau of his duties, multiple media reports named Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka as a desired candidate. As things stand, Udoka is midway through a four-year contract that he signed in April 2023 to coach the Rockets. Advertisement Ian Begley, a longtime Knicks reporter with SNY, adds more: Marc Stein reported late Tuesday that Ime Udoka and Jason Kidd are two coaches who are said to intrigue the Knicks. Udoka is a name that I'd heard as well. To hire Udoka, the Knicks would have to get permission from Houston and give the Rockets compensation to let Udoka out of his deal. Short of Udoka openly campaigning for the New York job, and there has been no indication of that, there's no reason to think the Rockets would consider such an arrangement. The Rockets have improved significantly in Udoka's two seasons with the team, and he just finished third in 2024-25 Coach of the Year voting. He's under contract for multiple seasons moving forward and is viewed internally as a foundational piece. Thus, there is zero interest from the team in parting ways. Granted, if the Knicks were willing to pay a high price via trade and Udoka was to indicate that he'd be looking elsewhere upon the expiration of his deal, it could make sense to take the assets — as opposed to the risk of eventually losing him for no compensation. But, again, there is no indication of that being the case. Udoka is a Portland native, so New York is actually further from his West Coast roots than Houston is. Advertisement More realistically, the interest from the Knicks could perhaps be used by Udoka and his representatives in eventual talks regarding a contract extension. Salaries for NBA coaches have risen in the two-plus years since Udoka signed his initial deal with the Rockets, and coaches rarely enter the final 'lame duck' year of their contracts. Thus, at some point prior to the 2026-27 season, it's likely that Udoka and the Rockets will enter into a new round of negotiations. In that context, interest from other teams around the league can be useful for Udoka's market, and it helps to be publicly viewed as desirable. More: Houston's Ime Udoka finishes third for 2024-25 NBA Coach of the Year This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: Report: With coaching vacancy, Knicks intrigued by Houston's Ime Udoka
