NBA Awards: Coach of the Year, Summary of Winners

This is the complete list of NBA coaches that won the Coach of the Year Award, grouped by coach.

Coach with the Most Awards:

Don Nelson / Gregg Popovich / Pat Riley
3 times Coach of the Year

NBA Awards: Coach of the Year

The best coach of the season is selected by a national panel of pro basketball writers and broadcasters. Since 1967 the trophy is called "Red Auerbach Trophy", named that way in honor to the former Boston Celtics coach who led the his team to 9 NBA titles.

Pat Riley, Don Nelson and Gregg Popovich won the Coach of the Year 3 times each. The really strange fact about this award is that Phil Jackson won it just once despite having led some of the best teams the NBA has ever seen to a total of 11 Championships.

Coach of the Year: by Year / by Coach / by Team

NBA Awards: All-time list of coaches who won the Coach of the Year award.

Awards
Coach
Team
Season
Team / Season
3 Don Nelson
Golden State Warriors
Milwaukee Bucks
3 Gregg Popovich
San Antonio Spurs
3 Pat Riley
Miami Heat
New York Knicks
Los Angeles Lakers
2 Mike Brown
Sacramento Kings
Cleveland Cavaliers
2 Hubie Brown
Memphis Grizzlies
Atlanta Hawks
2 Mike Budenholzer
Milwaukee Bucks
Atlanta Hawks
2 Mike D'Antoni
Houston Rockets
Phoenix Suns
2 Bill Fitch
Boston Celtics
Cleveland Cavaliers
2 Cotton Fitzsimmons
Phoenix Suns
Kansas City Kings
2 Gene Shue
Washington Bullets
Baltimore Bullets
2 Tom Thibodeau
New York Knicks
Chicago Bulls
Awards
Coach
Team
Season
Team / Season
1 Red Auerbach
Boston Celtics
1 Larry Bird
Indiana Pacers
1 Scott Brooks
Oklahoma City Thunder
1 Larry Brown
Philadelphia 76ers
1 Rick Carlisle
Detroit Pistons
1 Dwane Casey
Toronto Raptors
1 Don Chaney
Houston Rockets
1 Mike Dunleavy
Portland Trail Blazers
1 Mike Fratello
Atlanta Hawks
1 Harry Gallatin
St. Louis Hawks
1 Richie Guerin
St. Louis Hawks
1 Alex Hannum
San Francisco Warriors
1 Del Harris
Los Angeles Lakers
1 Tom Heinsohn
Boston Celtics
1 Red Holzman
New York Knicks
1 Phil Jackson
Chicago Bulls
1 Avery Johnson
Dallas Mavericks
1 Phil Johnson
Kansas City-Omaha Kings
1 George Karl
Denver Nuggets
1 Red Kerr
Chicago Bulls
1 Steve Kerr
Golden State Warriors
1 Frank Layden
Utah Jazz
1 Jack McKinney
Indiana Pacers
1 Sam Mitchell
Toronto Raptors
1 Doug Moe
Denver Nuggets
1 Dick Motta
Chicago Bulls
1 Tom Nissalke
Houston Rockets
1 Nick Nurse
Toronto Raptors
1 Doc Rivers
Orlando Magic
1 Dolph Schayes
Philadelphia 76ers
1 Mike Schuler
Portland Trail Blazers
1 Byron Scott
New Orleans Hornets
1 Ray Scott
Detroit Pistons
1 Bill Sharman
Los Angeles Lakers
1 Lenny Wilkens
Atlanta Hawks
1 Monty Williams
Phoenix Suns