National Basketball Association coaches will be having their own awarding as the National Basketball Coaches Association announced on Sunday that all of the 30 coaches will participate in a voting at the end of the season to determine who will be awarded the Michael H. Goldberg Coach of the Year Award.
There had been clamors for the results of the NBA Coach of the Year award since it is voted on by a media panel but what a better way to decide who the real coach of the year is by asking the coaches themselves who they think deserve to win. And that is where the Michael H. Goldberg Coach of the Year Award comes in.
The award is in memory of Goldberg who was a longtime executive director of the NBCA, ESPN reported. Despite the addition of the new award, the usual NBA Coach of the Year award will not be replaced but will recognize two winners if ever two different coaches are decided.
According to NCBA president and Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle, Goldberg was a "tireless foot soldier for the best interests of coaches and the NBA" and having the award under his name has a "special meaning" with it being voted by all the head coaches alone.
The Michael H. Goldberg NBCA Coach of the Year Award will be given to the head coach who "helped guide his or her players to a higher level of performance on-the-court and showed outstanding service and dedication to the community off-the-court," NBA.com said it its official statement.
Golden State Warriors' Steve Kerr won the latest NBA Coach of the Year award while three-time winner Greg Popovic is also in the run for the plum with his San Antonio Spurs still at the top of the league. Cleveland Cavaliers' Tyron Lue, Atlanta Hawks' Mike Budenholzer, Houston Rockets' Mike D'Antoni and Boston Celtics' Brad Stevens may also be in the running for the precious hardware.
Watch the video below for a sample of the 30 NBA head coaches ranked against each other: