2022-23 NBA Midseason Awards Media Poll: Coach of the Year
With just over six weeks left in the 2022-23 NBA regular season, not only will the race for who will and who will not make the playoffs heat up, but so will the race for this season’s awards.
Will Nikola Jokic be dethroned as the back-to-back recipient of the Most Valuable Player award? Is the race for the Most Improved Player award a two-man race between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lauri Markanen? With all the great teams this season, who will ultimately be named the league’s Coach of the Year?
Fastbreak on FanNation polled 25 different NBA media members, some who cover the league as a whole and some who cover an individual team, asking them these specific questions and gathering their results.
Below are the results from the voting that took place for the 2022-23 NBA Coach of the Year award at the All-Star break:
Media Members Pick To Win 2022-23 NBA Coach of the Year:
Mike Brown - Sacramento Kings (13 votes)
The Coach of the Year race in the NBA is always a tricky one to try and decipher simply because every voter has a different agenda and thought process when it comes to this award specifically.
Do we give it to the coach that made the biggest difference and impact for his team from last season to this season? Should this award go to a younger coach in his first or second season that has found a ton of success with his team? Is the coach of the team with the best record in either the Eastern or Western Conference automatically considered the best coach in the league?
These are all questions that are constantly brought up in conversations pertaining to the Coach of the Year award and when talking with various media members in regards to this year’s award race, these same questions were asked.
Ultimately, the majority decided that win differential and the increase in success compared to a season ago matter the most, hence why Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown received the most recognition with 13 votes.
The job Brown has done in Sacramento is incredible, especially given the history of the Kings. This franchise has not won more than 39 games in a season since the 2005-06 season. Coincidentally enough, that was the last time the Kings were ever in the playoffs!
At the All-Star break, the Kings found themselves 32-25, on pace for about 46 total wins and currently the 3-seed in the Western Conference. While they have a great players with De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis, as well as a revamped roster with the newest additions of Kevin Huerter, Malik Monk and Keegan Murray, everything for this organization has started with GM Monte McNair and head coach Mike Brown, who has completely shifted the energy from negative to positive in “Sactown.”
Also receiving a ton of recognition for this award and likely to finish in the Top-3 of the actual voting for this award is first-year head coach Joe Mazzulla.
Some may not want to give Mazzulla Coach of the Year honors given that he inherited a team coming off a run to the NBA Finals, but to be thrown into the situation he was in during the offseason, keep the Boston Celtics together and be as poised of a head coach as he could be at just 34-years-old is extremely impressive.
The Celtics would not be the best team in the league right now without great leadership and Mazzulla has provided that to his organization since taking over for Ime Udoka in the offseason.
Brown and Mazzulla will certainly be at the top of everyone’s minds in this season’s Coach of the Year race, but Michael Malone (Denver Nuggets), Jacque Vaughn (Brooklyn Nets), Doc Rivers (Philadelphia 76ers) and Taylor Jenkins (Memphis Grizzlies) all received one vote as well.
Malone has led the Denver Nuggets to a 41-18 record so far, the best record in the Western Conference, Jenkins has led the Memphis Grizzlies to a 35-22 record, the second-best record in the West and Rivers has led the Philadelphia 76ers to a 38-19 record, the third-best record in the Eastern Conference.
Taking over for Steve Nash early on in the season, Jacque Vaughn has gone through a lot with the Brooklyn Nets, yet he still has his team competing for a playoff spot and avoiding the Play-In Tournament. His accomplishments are certainly notable, which is why the Nets recently signed him to a four-year contract extension.
