On April 20, Beijing time, the NBA officially announced: Kings coach Mike Brown was unanimously elected the 2022-23 head coach of the year, and he defeated Celtics coach Mazura and Thunder coach Daignault to win this award for the second time in his career. Brown received all 100 first votes and scored 500 points, Daignault 144 and Mazura 77. Currently, the Head Coach of the Year trophy is named after legendary manager Auerbach, and the league has been naming Head Coach of the Year since the 1962-63 season. Brown is the first manager in history to be voted Coach of the Year unanimously.
Previously, Brown was also named NBCA (American Coach Association) Head Coach of the Year. The Coach Association's Coach of the Year award is voted on by 30 coaches in the league. Each coach has one vote, but he can't vote for himself. This also shows that Brown has been recognized by his peers before being elected NBA Head Coach of the Year.
The 53-year-old Brown led the Kings to a 48-34 record this season and qualified for the playoffs as third in the West, breaking the curse of missing the playoffs for 16 consecutive seasons and also winning the Pacific Division. Currently, the Kings lead the Warriors 2-0 in the first round of the playoffs, thanks to Brown.
Previously, Brown had revealed the Kings' recipe for success this season. "We had a team dinner at the beginning of the bootcamp and explained the specific role of each person," Brown said, "Some people are unhappy with their role, but if you agree to fulfill their role, you sign a contract. No one is forced to do this, but if you sign, your teammates will see that you are committed to fulfilling your obligations. If you deviate from your commitment to the team, you will be held accountable. When you really value it, you protect it and embrace it. That's what I want from our team. All the players signed. ”
It is reported that this internal contract is in triplicate, with a signature: one on the wall of the team's training ground, one on the locker room, and the other with the team in case of emergency.
So far in his career, Brown has coached 645 regular-season games with 395-250 wins and 61.2 percent win percentage, and 85 playoff games with 49-36 wins and 57.6 percent win rate. He was named Head Coach of the Year in 2008-09, when the 38-year-old Brown helped the Cavaliers record 66-16.
Mike Brown will join Hubie Brown, Budenholzer, D'Antonis, Bill Fitch, Fitzsimmons, Jean Shu and Thibodeau as the two-time winner of this award. There are four coaches in history who have won the award three times: Larry Brown (ABA), Nelson Sr., Popovich and Pat Riley.
ESPN officially reposted a collection of photos of Brown's coaching career, lamenting that his "NBA journey is amazing." In 2003, Mike Brown won an NBA championship with the Spurs as an assistant coach. In 2005, Mike Brown became the head coach of the Cavaliers, coaching LeBron James. In 2011, Mike Brown became the head coach of the Lakers, coaching Kobe Bryant. In 2016, Mike Brown became Kerr's assistant coach and coached Curry and Durant back-to-back, winning three championships with the Warriors. In 2022, Mike Brown became the Kings head coach, leading the Kings to the playoffs after a 16-year hiatus.
Attached: Winner of the Best Head Coach Award in the past 10 years -
2013-14: Popovich of the Spurs
2014-15 season: The Hawks' Budenholzer
2015-16: Warriors' Kerr
2016-17 season: D'Antoni of the Rockets
2017-18 season: Casey of the Raptors
2018-19 season: Budenholzer of the Bucks
2019-20: Raptors' Nas
2020-21 season: Thibodeau for the Knicks
2021-22 season: Monty Williams of the Suns
2022-23 season: The Kings' Mike Brown