Thunder’s Daigneault named NBA’s Coach of Year

Oklahoma City Thunder coach Mark Daigneault was named the NBA’s Coach of the Year Sunday night, finishing ahead of Orlando Magic coach Jamahl Mosley and Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch.

Daigneault, in his fourth season on Oklahoma City’s sidelines, piloted the Thunder to the top seed in the Western Conference standings despite having one of the NBA’s youngest teams this season.

“I’ve used the word uncommon with this team all year and the reason I think they’re so uncommon is they have incredible ambition,” Daigneault said in an interview with TNT Sunday. “They care about their individual careers, they work hard individually, but they also really appreciate each other’s success and they root for each other, they’re behind each other and we’ve done everything together all year.”

Daigneault finished as a runaway winner, claiming 89 of the 100 first place votes and 473 total points, with Mosley — who led Orlando back into the playoffs for the first time in four years — finishing second with four first place votes and 158 points and Finch, who led Minnesota to the second-most wins in franchise history (56), finishing third with a single first place vote and 105 total points.

Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla finished fourth, New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau finished fifth, and Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra — the only other coach to get a first place vote — finished sixth.

Daigneault was the fourth recipient of a league-ending award this week, joining Tyrese Maxey (Most Improved Player), Stephen Curry (Clutch Player) and Naz Reid (Sixth Man of the Year). Over the next couple of weeks, the NBA will hand out its Most Valuable Player, Defensive Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year awards, along with its All-NBA, All-Defensive and All-Rookie Teams.