NEW YORK – Toronto Raptors Head Coach Nick Nurse has been named 2019-20 NBA Coach of the Year, the NBA announced today.
This marks the first NBA Coach of the Year award for Nurse in her sophomore season as the NBA head coach. Nurse, the 2010-11 Dennis Johnson Coach of the Year with Iowa Energy (now the Iowa Wolves), is the first to be named Coach of the Year in both the NBA and the NBA G League.
The nurse received 90 first place votes from a global jury of 100 sports journalists and broadcasters for a total of 470 points. Two-time NBA Coach of the Year, Mike Budenholzer of Milwaukee Bucks (147 points; five votes in first place) and Billy Donovan of Oklahoma City Thunder (134 points; four votes in first place) finished second and third.
The coaches received five points for each vote in first place, three points for each voice in second place, and one point for each voice in third place. The voting was conducted based on the regular season games played through March 11th. The seeding games played July 30 through August 14 as part of the season restart did not count towards voting for the NBA Coach of the Year Award or any of the league’s other traditional end-of-season awards.
In games played through March 11, Nurse led the Raptors (46-18, .719) to the second-best record in the Eastern Conference and third-best record in the NBA, despite the team’s top five players in scoring On average each missed at least 11 games. During that time, Toronto finished second in the 2019 off-season defensive standings despite an absence of 28 games for the starting center and Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year 2012/13, Marc Gasol, and the elimination of two-time Defensive Player of the Year, Kawhi Leonard .
Nurse was named NBA Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for October / November (14-4) and January (12-3) games. He led the Raptors to a 15-game franchise-record winning streak from January 15 to February 10.
Under Nurse, Pascal Siakam, the most improved player in the 2018-19 Kia NBA, was named an NBA All-Star for the first time, and Kyle Lowry received his sixth straight all-star selection. Fred VanVleet and Norman Powell blossomed with bigger roles, while uncovered rookie Terence Davis II emerged as a contributor.
Nurse was named the Raptors’ head coach in June 2018 after serving five seasons as an assistant coach at Toronto. As the NBA head coach for the first year of last season, Nurse led the Raptors to their first NBA championship. He is the only coach to win in both the NBA and NBA G League championships, having won NBA G League titles with the Energy (2010-11) and the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (2012-13) .
Nurse receives the Red Auerbach Trophy as NBA Trainer of the Year, along with Sam Mitchell (2006-07) and Dwane Casey (2017-18) as winners with the Raptors. Auerbach, a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer, coached the Boston Celtics to nine NBA championships, including eight in a row from 1959 to 1966.
NBA COACH THE RECIPIENT OF THE ANNUAL AWARD
1962-63 – Harry Gallatin, St. Louis
1963-64 – Alex Hannum, San Francisco
1964-65 – Roter 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
1970-71 – Dick Motta, Chicago
1971-72 – Bill Sharman, LA Lakers
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, LA 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
2009-10 – Scott Brooks, Oklahoma City
2010-11 – Tom Thibodeau, Chicago
2011-12 – Gregg Popovich, San Antonio
2012-13 – George Karl, Denver
2013-14 – Gregg Popovich, San Antonio
2014-15 – Mike Budenholzer, Atlanta
2015-16 – Steve Kerr, Golden State
2016-17 – Mike D’Antoni, Houston
2017-18 – Dwane Casey, Toronto
2018-19 – Mike Budenholzer, Milwaukee
2019-20 – Nick Nurse, Toronto
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