2022-23 NBA Preseason Awards Media Poll: Coach of the Year
A new NBA season is upon us and with it comes speculation about what will happen over the next few months.
Who will win this season's awards? Which teams will finish with the best and worst records? Who has the best chance to make the All-Star Game for the first time in their career?
Fastbreak on FanNation polled 21 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:
Media Members Pick To Win Coach of the Year:
Tyronn Lue - Los Angeles Clippers
This ended up being an extremely slim race and while you could very much call this voting a draw given all the names that received votes, Los Angeles Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue ended up receiving the most attention this preseason for the 2022-23 Coach of the Year award with four votes.
Some may be surprised to see Lue atop this list given that the Clippers finished the 2021-22 season with a 42-40 record, failing to earn a playoff spot via the Western Conference Play-In Tournament, but injuries derailed Los Angeles’ season last year.
Now, with All-Stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George healthy, as well as having the best depth and one of the best defenses in the entire league, the Clippers enter the 2022-23 season as one of the top teams in the entire league.
The addition of former All-Star guard John Wall is going to prove extremely useful for this team and what many tend to forget is that Lue had this team in the Western Conference Finals in 2021 and they came within two wins of making their first ever NBA Finals appearance. This team has everything they need entering the new season to contend for a title and it would not be surprising if the Clippers end up being the better team in Los Angeles this year.
Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch, New Orleans Pelicans head coach Willie Green and Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone all received three votes this preseason for Coach of the Year and all three are absolutely candidates for this award entering the new season.
The Timberwolves are going to be more experienced with the additions of veterans Austin Rivers, Bryn Forbes and Kyle Anderson, plus they added All-Star center Rudy Gobert to pair with fellow All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns in the frontcourt. Anthony Edwards is heading into his third season in the NBA and D’Angelo Russell is finally healthy, which could suddenly make Minnesota a real contending threat in the Western Conference.
New Orleans finished the 2021-22 season winning 9 of their final 15 games to claim a Play-In Tournament spot and they ended up defeating both the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Clippers en route to earning the 8-seed in the West where they took the 1-seeded Phoenix Suns to a Game 6 in the first-round. Zion Williamson finally being healthy suddenly makes the Pelicans a deep, young and very athletic team that can contend with anyone in the league.
Looking at Denver, both Michael Porter Jr. and Jamal Murray will be returning from injuries for the Nuggets and oh yeah, they still have that Nikola Jokic guy that has now won the MVP award in back-to-back seasons. Denver still managed to win 48 games under Michael Malone this past season even though they were dealing with key injuries, which is why they are a serious threat to now contend for the 1-seed in the Western Conference heading into the 2022-23 season.
Cleveland Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse and Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd all received two votes, as Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr and Memphis Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins rounded out the list of those receiving votes with one vote each.
The Coach of the Year award always seems to be determined within the final few weeks of the season as teams jockey for playoff positioning and this season will be no different. There are so many fantastic coaches in the NBA right now, which is why there truly is no telling as to which team will claim this award for their head coach.
Complete voting results from 2022-23 NBA Preseason Media Poll:
- 2022-23 NBA Preseason Most Valuable Player
- 2022-23 NBA Preseason Rookie of the Year
- 2022-23 NBA Preseason Most Improved Player
- 2022-23 NBA Preseason Sixth-Man of the Year
- 2022-23 NBA Preseason Coach of the Year
- 2022-23 NBA Preseason Defensive Player of the Year
- Who Will Finish With The Worst Regular Season Record?
- Who Will Finish With The Best Regular Season Record?
- Which Team Will Win The Eastern Conference?
- Which Team Will Win The Western Conference?
- Which Team Will Win The 2023 NBA Finals?
- Who Is Most Likely To Be A First-Time All-Star During The 2022-23 NBA Season?
