This is George Karl’s first Coach of the Year selection in 25 years as an NBA head coach. (Garrett W. Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)
The NBA announced Wednesday that Denver’s George Karl has been voted the Coach of the Year.
In his 25th season as an NBA head coach, Karl led the Nuggets to a 57-25 record, good for the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference. He earned 62 first-place votes, finishing ahead Miami’s Erik Spoelstra (24 first-place votes), New York’s Mike Woodson (six) and San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich (11). This is Karl’s first Coach of the Year award.
Karl boasts a career regular-season record of 1,131-756 and led the SuperSonics to the Finals in 1996. The 61-year-old has spent the last nine seasons in Denver after stops in Milwaukee, Seattle, Golden State and Cleveland. The Nuggets fell to the Warriors in the first round of this year’s playoffs.
Ian Thomsen made the case for George Karl in April, and Karl earned two nods from SI.com’s year-end award panel.
Other coaches who received a first-place vote: Indiana’s Frank Vogel (three), Memphis’ Lionel Hollins (six), Golden State’s Mark Jackson (three), Chicago’s Tom Thibodeau (two) and Houston’s Kevin McHale, Brooklyn’s P.J. Carlesimo, the Clippers’ Vinny Del Negro and Atlanta’s Larry Drew (one apiece).
