When I cast my Coach of the Year vote for George Karl, I had no idea so many others would do the same.
More than half the voters made the same choice.
The final individual award given out by the NBA was announced this morning, and Karl was the Coach of the Year in a runaway. with Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat second and Mike Woodson of the Knicks third. Under Karl’s leadership, the Nuggets finished with a league-best 38-3 (.927) mark at home and the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference playoffs before being knocked out in the first round by the Golden State Warriors.
Warriors coach Mark Jackson was one of 12 coaches to receive at lerast one first-place vote. He received three — the same number as Indiana coach Frank Vogel, who guided his team to the No. 3 seed in the East despite being without leading scorer Danny Granger for almost the entire season.
San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich received 11 first-place vtes but finished fourth.
In earning his first NBA Coach of the Year award, Karl totaled 404 points, including 62 first-place votes, from a panel of 121 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Coaches were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote. The award was tabulated by the independent accounting firm of Ernst & Young LLP.
The Nuggets went 57-25 (.695) – the league’s fourth-best record – despite beginning the season as the league’s third-youngest team with an average age of 24.9 years, and not having a player score more than 16.7 points per game during the regular season. The Nuggets’ 38-3 record at Pepsi Center was a franchise-best and tied for the 14th best home record in league annals. Additionally, their .927 winning percentage at home was the highest since 2008-09 when the Cleveland Cavaliers went 39-2 (.951) at Quicken Loans Arena.
In his 25th season as an NBA head coach (ninth with Denver), Karl earned two Western Conference Coach of the Month awards during the 2012-13 campaign. He won for March after leading Denver to a conference-best 13-2 (.867) mark, which included wins in the first 12 games of the month, feeding a 15-game, franchise-tying-best winning streak. He earned his first monthly nod in January after the Nuggets opened the New Year with a 12-3 (.800) record. During January, Karl passed Larry Brown for sixth place on the all-time coaching wins list and notched his 1,100th career win.
The sixth-winningest coach in NBA annals and the active wins leader, Karl has amassed 1,131 career victories in the NBA, including a streak of 21-straight non-losing seasons – tied with Phil Jackson (21, 1989-90-2010-11) for the most in NBA history.
(RELATED: WHO DID CHRIS SHERIDAN VOTE FOR IN NBA AWARD BALLOTING?)
The full balloting results are after the jump.
Kobe wasn’t the best in the league. but he woludn’t be the best or one of the best in leagues past. and to me, that’s part of true greatness.Remember: the only reason Kobe played so much his first couple years with the lakers is because the got rid of the 6 guards they had infront of him. Nic Van Excel was giving fools 30 every other night. Brian Shaw was a knock down shooter. Eddie Jones was a shut-down, on ball defender who also averaged 25 points and 4 rebounds and 4 assists Kobe couldn’t even beat those guys for playing time.If you don’t want to penalize Kobe for playing in a weak league, don’t penalize Jordan, Nique and them for playing in a better league. Jordan dropped 69 when you could still play zone and knock the crap out of dudes going to the hole without getting ejected. Magic black out against diamond and one zones. Flagrant fouls ain’t but about 5 years old, fam.Kobe’s 81 is like 46 points in the 80s.Charles Barkley, hell Charles Oakley My goodness Charles Smith would’ve knocked Kobe out soon as he hit the dotted line.Kobe’s nice, but the perspective just ain’t there with dude. Paul Pierce is slow as hell and he hangs with 24.I’m tellin y’all Sidney Moncrief, Rickey Pierce and them big guards from the 80s/early 90s would’ve beat Kobe’s ass every night and made him like it.
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