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NBA AWARDS - CLEVELAND’S MIKE BROWN NAMED 2008-09 NBA COACH OF THE YEAR
James Loving - National Radio Text Service
Brown Wins Red Auerbach Trophy After Leading Cleveland to Franchise-Best 66-Win Seaso
COACH OF THE YEAR Thursday April 23, 2009 Cleveland’s Mike Brown is the recipient of the Red Auerbach Trophy as the 2008-09 NBA Coach of the Year, the NBA announced this week. Brown totaled 355 points, including 55 first-place votes, from a panel of 122 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Coaches were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote. In his fourth season at the helm in Cleveland, Brown guided the Cavaliers to a franchise- and NBA-best 66-16 (.805) season, marking only the 12th time an NBA team has won at least 66 games. Cleveland started the season with a franchise-best 23-straight wins at Quicken Loans Arena and finished with the best home record in the league at 39-2. Cleveland is the sixth team in NBA history to record 39 home wins and the first to do so since the 1996-97 Chicago Bulls. The Cavaliers’ 21-game improvement over last year’s 45-37 record tied the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers for the second biggest improvement all-time among teams with at least 45 wins in the previous season. Brown was named NBA Coach of the Month for December, February and March. At the All-Star break, Cleveland owned the highest winning percentage in the Eastern Conference (36-9, .800), earning Brown the spot as head coach for the East in Phoenix. It was Brown’s first appearance as an All-Star head coach and the second in franchise history (Lenny Wilkens, 1989). Brown led the Cavaliers to at least 45 wins in each of his first three campaigns, marking only the second time Cleveland won that many games in three consecutive seasons (1991-92 to 1993-94). With a combined regular season record of 211-117 (.643) in four seasons, Brown has the highest winning percentage of any head coach in franchise history. In each of his first three seasons in Cleveland, Brown has led the Cavaliers to the playoffs, amassing a franchise-best 26-20 (.565) postseason record. In 2007, he led Cleveland to its first trip to The Finals. Brown joined the Cavaliers after two seasons as associate head coach for the Indiana Pacers. Prior to that, Brown served as assistant coach for three seasons in San Antonio, helping guide the Spurs to the 2003 NBA championship. Brown began his coaching career with the Washington Wizards, where he spent two seasons as an assistant coach under Bernie Bickerstaff. The Coach of the Year Award is named after legendary coach and Hall of Famer Red Auerbach who guided the Celtics to nine NBA Championships. In 1996, Auerbach was honored as one of the Top 10 Coaches in NBA History as the NBA celebrated its 50th anniversary. NOTE: Jerry Sloan who has been selected for the Hall of Fame finished sixth place in the voting. Following are the balloting results for the 2008-09 NBA Coach of the Year award and the all-time list of winners: 2008-09 NBA COACH OF THE YEAR RESULTS Coach................. Team...... 1st...... 2nd..... 3rd...... Pts Mike Brown......... Cleveland.... 55........ 21....... 17......... 355 Rick Adelman....... Houston...... 13........ 24........ 14........ 151 Stan Van Gundy....Orlando...... 13........ 20........ 25........ 150 Nate McMillan...... Portland..... 15........ 14....... 10......... 127 George Karl.......... Denver....... 11........ 16....... 14......... 117 Jerry Sloan............Utah.............9 ..........9 .........6 ..........78 ALL-TIME NBA COACH OF THE YEAR WINNERS 1962-63 - Harry Gallatin, St. Louis 1963-64 - Alex Hannum, San Francisco 1964-65 - Red Auerbach, Boston 1965-66 - Dolph Schayes, Philadelphia 1966-67 - Johnny Kerr, Chicago 1967-68 - Richie Guerin, St. Louis 1968-69 - Gene Shue, Baltimore 1969-70 - Red Holzman, New York 1971-72 - Bill Sharman, Los Angeles 1972-73 - Tom Heinsohn, Boston 1973-74 - Ray Scott, Detroit 1974-75 - Phil Johnson, Kansas City-Omaha 1975-76 - Bill Fitch, Cleveland 1976-77 - Tom Nissalke, Houston 1977-78 - Hubie Brown, Atlanta 1978-79 - Cotton Fitzsimmons, Kansas City 1979-80 - Bill Fitch, Boston 1980-81 - Jack McKinney, Indiana 1981-82 - Gene Shue, Washington 1982-83 - Don Nelson, Milwaukee 1983-84 - Frank Layden, Utah 1984-85 - Don Nelson, Milwaukee 1985-86 - Mike Fratello, Atlanta 1986-87 - Mike Schuler, Portland 1987-88 - Doug Moe, Denver 1988-89 - Cotton Fitzsimmons, Phoenix 1989-90 - Pat Riley, LA Lakers 1990-91 - Don Chaney, Houston 1991-92 - Don Nelson, Golden State 1992-93 - Pat Riley, New York 1993-94 - Lenny Wilkens, Atlanta 1994-95 - Del Harris, Los Angeles Lakers 1995-96 - Phil Jackson, Chicago 1996-97 - Pat Riley, Miami 1997-98 - Larry Bird, Indiana 1998-99 - Mike Dunleavy, Portland 1999-00 - Doc Rivers, Orlando 2000-01 - Larry Brown, Philadelphia 2001-02 - Rick Carlisle, Detroit 2002-03 - Gregg Popovich, San Antonio 2003-04 - Hubie Brown, Memphis 2004-05 - Mike D’Antoni, Phoenix 2005-06 - Avery Johnson, Dallas 2006-07 - Sam Mitchell, Toronto 2007-08 - Byron Scott, New Orleans 2008-09 - Mike Brown, Cleveland NBA
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