NBA Awards 2019: 3 reasons why Mike Malone should win the Coach of the Year Award
The NBA season has officially come to an end. On Thursday, the Toronto Raptors beat the Golden State Warriors 114-110. Their win led to the Raptors winning their first championship in franchise history. With the season coming to an end, it is time for the offseason festivities.
One of the events that take place in the offseason is the NBA Awards. The NBA Awards is an annual event that the league holds to recognize their elite. The awards show gives out the awards to the best rookie, sixth man, and player of the regular season. The show also gives the award for the best coach of the season.
The Coach of the Year candidates are Clippers coach Doc Rivers, Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer, and Nuggets coach Michael Malone. Each of these candidates deserves Coach of the Year, but one candidate has an advantage over the others. Michael Malone and the Nuggets had a great season and deserve to be recognized. Malone is a legitimate candidate and deserves to win the award. Here are some of the reasons why he deserves the award.
#3 The Nuggets were the second seed in a wild Western Conference
The Denver Nuggets had an incredible season that shattered expectations. They finished the season with a 54-28 record. The Nuggets were the second seed of the Western Conference and were only three games behind the first seed Warriors. Their performance is an improvement from their last two seasons, where they barely missed the playoffs.
In the 2017-18 season, the Nuggets finished the season with a record of 46-36. In 2016-17, they had a record of 40-42. The Nuggets were the ninth seed of the West and just missed the playoffs last time around. This year, they made significant strides and jumped up seven seeds to become the second best team of the West.
This season, the Nuggets made it to the playoffs for the first time since 2013. They reached the second round, where they lost to the Portland Trail Blazers. Denver lost the series 4-3. In a series where the Blazers and Nuggets battled in quadruple overtime in Game 3, the Nuggets came up short in an exciting series. Their loss in the second round came after the Nuggets beat the Spurs in the first round. They beat the Spurs in a 4-3 series.
Despite their loss in the second round, the Nuggets proved they are the team of the future. With a young core consisting of players such as Nikola Jokic, Gary Harris and Jamal Murray, the Nuggets are a playoff team for years to come. They also have the ideal coach in Mike Malone. The combination of Malone and the young Nuggets is a step in the right direction for Denver. If the Nuggets hold on to Malone, the team will likely continue to improve. Then, it is only a matter of time before they become contenders.