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The NBA Coach of the Year award is a very prestigious accomplishment. The winner is selected by sportswriters from the United States and Canada. The award generally goes to a coach who turned around a team and exceeded its preseason expectations. Some coaches are able to take a lottery team to the playoffs, while others are able to get playoff losers over the hump and make them champions.
The Brooklyn Nets' Jacque Vaughn could end up becoming a candidate if he continues to turn around the Nets. Boston Celtics' Joe Mazzulla may have a chance at the award with the job he is doing after taking over for the suspended Ime Udoka.
It's not easy to win, and it’s even harder to win multiple times. Three coaches have won the award three times: Don Nelson, Pat Riley and Gregg Popovich.
Pat Riley
Pat Riley has done it all in the NBA. He came into the league as a player in 1967. In 1979, Riley became an assistant coach with the LA Lakers and later became their head coach in 1991. Riley now serves as the general manager and president of the Miami Heat. He is a five-time champion as a head coach.
Riley has had successful coaching runs with the Lakers, New York Knicks and Miami Heat. Of the three-time Coach of the Year award winners, Riley is the only one to do it with three different franchises. He won his first award in 1989-90 with the Lakers, then again in 1992-93 with the Knicks and in 1996-97 with the Heat.
Over Riley’s time in the NBA, he has been a nine-time NBA champion, winning rings as a player, coach and executive. He is also the winner of the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award, which is given annually to longtime coaches who have shown “standard of integrity, competitive excellence and tireless promotion.”
Don Nelson
Don Nelson has the second-most all-time regular-season wins as a head coach in NBA history. Nelson played 14 years in the NBA and won five championships with the Boston Celtics. Nelson’s head coaching career began in 1976 and went to 2010. He has coached the Milwaukee Bucks, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks and Dallas Mavericks.
Nelson is the only three-time Coach of the Year award winner to never win the NBA championship as a coach. Nelson won the award during the 1982-83 and 1984-85 seasons with the Bucks and then again in 1991-92 with the Warriors.
Gregg Popovich
Gregg Popovich is the longest-tenured head coach in the NBA, having coached the San Antonio Spurs for the last 26 years. Popovich’s entire head coaching career in the NBA is with the Spurs, where he has won five championships.
Popovich sits in first place in all-time regular season wins as a head coach. He won a gold medal as the head coach of the U.S. Men’s Olympic basketball team in 2020. He won coach of the year in the 2002-03, 2011-12 and 2013-14 seasons. He is the only member of the three-time winner club to do it all with one franchise.
Guess the Lakers players!
