The announcement of this year’s NBCA coach of the year award has ended in widespread disbelief.
Not because Dwane Casey won, but because Brad Stevens didn’t receive a single vote from his peers.
Meanwhile, Brett Brown, Mike D’Antoni, Nate McMillan, Gregg Popovich, Quin Snyder, Terry Stotts and Doc Rivers all received at least one vote.
Doc Rivers over Brad Stevens!!
Now that, folks, is just blatant professional malpractice.
And while few would usually bat an eyelid over this award – as it is quite separate to the NBA’s Coach of the Year award – there’s something particularly inexcusable about this oversight which many are finding hard to swallow.
https://twitter.com/isaiahthomas/status/994293891388985344
There's no way I just read this right.. Brad Steven's didn't receive ONE vote for Coach of the year? Stop playing…
— 🏁 Jamal Crawford (@JCrossover) May 9, 2018
That’s crazy..only in America! https://t.co/D9TGkz5O8B
— Evan Turner (@thekidet) May 9, 2018
Anyone whose basketball viewing appetite exceeds SportsCenter’s top 10 understands Brad Stevens and Gregg Popovich are 1A and 1B among the league’s coaches.
And yet the men who are paid millions to actually coach basketball are somehow struggling to see that.
And even those who have admitted Stevens was deserving of at least one vote – such as Philadelphia’s Brett Brown – still did not actually vote for him.
https://twitter.com/SheaSerrano/status/994408937356189696
Some have suggested the ‘old guard’ is bitter that a fresh-faced coach who never played at a high level is showing them up on a nightly basis.
But we’ll never know for sure.
And in Stevens’ case, he doesn’t care.
When it comes to individual awards, he never has.
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