On April 29, Beijing time, the NBA officially announced that Thunder coach Daigneault was elected as the head coach of the year in the 2023-24 season, and he defeated Timberwolves coach Finch and Magic coach Moseley to win this award for the first time in his career. Currently, the Coach of the Year trophy is named after legendary coach Auerbach, and the league has been selecting Coach of the Year since the 1962-63 season.
Dagneault received 89 first-place votes for a total of 473 points, with Moseley 158 and Finch 105.
Previously, Dagneault was also named NBCA (American Coaching Association) Head Coach of the Year. The Coach Association's Coach of the Year award is voted for by the league's 30 head coaches. Each coach has one vote, but he can't vote for himself. This also shows that Dagneault has already received recognition from his peers before being elected NBA Head Coach of the Year.
The 39-year-old Daigneault led the Thunder to a 57-25 record this season and advanced to the playoffs as the No. 1 in the West. Last season, the Thunder were 40-42 and ranked 10th in the West. Dagneault led the team to 17 more wins, and the Thunder jumped from 10th place in the West to first place in the West, an impressive improvement. Currently, the Thunder lead the Pelicans 3-0 in the first round of the playoffs, and Daigneault is also a big contributor.
So far in his career, Dagneault has coached 318 regular season games, 143-175, a 45.0% winning rate, and has coached three playoff games, 3-0, a 100% winning rate. Last season, Dagneault finished second in the Best Coach poll, losing to Kings coach Brown.
The two managers that Daigneault defeated have also had good coaching performances this season. Timberwolves coach Finch led the team to a 56-26 record, ranking third in the West, and currently leading the Suns 3-0 in the first round of the playoffs. Magic coach Mosley is 47-35 and fifth in the East, and is currently tied 2-2 with the Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs.
Four head coaches have won the award three times: Larry Brown (ABA), Nelson Sr., Popovich and Pat Riley.
Attached: Winner of the Best Head Coach Award in the past 10 years——
2014-15: Budenholzer of the Hawks
2015-16: Warriors' Kerr
2016-17: D'Antoni of the Rockets
2017-18: Raptors' Casey
2018-19 season: Budenholzer of the Bucks
2019-20 season: Raptors' Nass
2020-21: Thibodeau for the Knicks
2021-22 season: Monty Williams of the Suns
2022-23 season: Mike Brown of the Kings
2023-24 season: Thunder's Dagneault