Mike Budenholzer – Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images)
Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer joins Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Billy Donovan as the 2020 recipients of the Michael H. Goldberg NBCA Coach of the Year Award.
The award recognizes the dedication, commitment and hard work of NBA Head Coaches and is presented annually to a Head Coach who helps guide his players to a higher level of performance on the court and shows outstanding service and dedication to the community off the court. It is the only award voted upon by the winners’ peers, the Head Coaches of all 30 NBA teams. This year’s voting was based on games played from the start of the 2019-20 regular season through games played on March 11.
Budenholzer guided the Bucks to the best record in the NBA (53-12) for the second year in a row. He becomes the first two-time winner of the Award. The Bucks were the NBA’s highest scoring team, averaging 118.6 points a game, and outscored opponents by a league-high average of 11.2 ppg. The 11.2 ppg differential is tied for the fifth largest margin in NBA history.
Defensively, Coach Budenholzer’s Bucks held opponents to 107.4 ppg, fifth best in the league. He won Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for December (13-2 record) and February (10-1 record).
Donovan led the Thunder to a 40-24 season, tied for fifth in the Western Conference. From Thanksgiving through March 11, the Thunder went 34-13. Donovan joins Rick Carlisle, Erik Spoelstra and Steve Kerr as the only active head coaches to guide their teams to the playoffs in each of their first five seasons.