Did Nuggets' David Adelman Deserve More Love for Coach of the Year?

The Nuggets' head coach was left off the Coach of the Year ballot entirely. Did the voters get it right?

Oct 25, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets head coach David Adelman during the first half against the Phoenix Suns at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images | Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images

Leading up to Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals, the verdict for this year's Coach of the Year winner finally came to light with the reveal of Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla winning the award for the first time in his career.

A well-deserved honor for a head coach and a Celtics staff that exceeded all initial expectations entering the year, rolling without Jayson Tatum for a majority of the season to vault into a top-two seed in the Eastern Conference, despite falling to a disappointing postseason end.

But with the reveal of Mazzulla's win also came the entire results of each of the 100 first, second and third-place votes that were submitted around the media. In all, there were 12 coaches who at least got one voting point.

But there was one eye-catching omission from that entire pool of votes: Denver Nuggets head coach David Adelman, who went without any recognition coming his way.

A global media panel of 100 voters selected the 2025-26 NBA Coach of the Year.

Complete voting results ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/es0GyIXSMe

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 26, 2026

So it begs the question: did Adelman deserve at least some recognition from the voters for Coach of the Year, or was leaving his name off the ballot justified?

Did David Adelman Deserve More Coach of the Year Love?

I'll preface by saying this: if I was lucky enough to have a vote, Adelman probably wouldn't be in my top-three candidates to take home the award. He might not even be in my top-five.

Guys like Mazzulla, J.B. Bickerstaff with the Detroit Pistons, or even someone like Charles Lee with the Charlotte Hornets showed out this season in a big way to cement themselves as some of the best coaching minds in the league.

However, when surveying down the list of candidates who actually got a vote or two their way, it'd be hard not to put Adelman on a similar level in terms of their regular season success.

Did Quin Snyder and the Atlanta Hawks deserve more credit than the Nuggets' number-one ranked offense?

What about Kenny Atkinson and the East's fourth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers? Or Tyronn Lue of the LA Clippers, who had an impressive mid-season turnaround, but didn't vault into the playoff picture for an ultimately disappointing season when basing off initial expectations?

Adelman feels like he had a regular season at least in the same ballpark as those three, and each of them got at least one third-place vote to come their way.

Apr 25, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Denver Nuggets head coach David Adelman calls a time out against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the fourth quarter at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Blewett-Imagn Images | Matt Blewett-Imagn Images

The Nuggets, while an ugly end to the postseason, endured a ton of adversity in the regular season.

Virtually every key lineup piece outside of Jamal Murray missed multiple weeks of the year for one injury or another, and Denver still found a way to rise into the third seed in the West by the end of it.

Peyton Watson had a breakout year, Jamal Murray unlocked another level to his offensive game, Nikola Jokic had another MVP-level season despite missing a month, and Denver capped off their regular season with 12-straight wins to put a button on a 54-win season, also in Adelman's first full year at the helm.

Sure, the defense was porous almost all season-long. That's going to be a defining trait of how the Nuggets perform next year, and how Adelman will be ultimately judged further.

But for a first-time head coach with sky-high expectations on a championship-ready roster, the good tends to outweigh the bad–– at least in terms of his regular season sample size for what Coach of the Year is judged on.

And for that, it feels like Adelman should've gotten a few more looks for that Coach of the Year award, even if not having the resume to take home a win.

If anything, it leaves Adelman with his sights set on a better year for not only the Nuggets as a whole, but for himself individually for what will be a critical season to cement his future in the Mile High.

Because while regular season success is great, the playoffs are where it matters. And this time around, his group left a lot on the table for what their rostered talent has the ceiling to be capable of.

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