After leading Nuggets to No. 1 seed, Malone gets no love from fellow coaches

The Denver Nuggets are the No. 1 seed for the first time in the franchise’s NBA existence.

And it took head coach Michael Malone to finally help lead them to that point.

For as great as Larry Brown, Doug Moe and George Karl were, they could never accomplish that feat. So, you’d think Malone would get some recognition, particularly from his fellow NBA coaches. But that didn’t happen.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Malone not only didn’t win NBCA Coach of the Year honors, he didn’t receive a single vote. Sacramento’s Mike Brown took the award home, with Milwaukee’s Mike Budenholzer, Oklahoma City’s Mark Daigneault, Boston’s Joe Mazzulla and New York’s Tom Thibodeau also in the mix. Each coach picked a winner and couldn’t vote for themselves.

ESPN Sources: After leading one of the league’s most dramatic recent turnarounds, Sacramento Kings coach Mike Brown has been voted the National Basketball Coaches Association’s Coach of the Year: https://t.co/oyb4ogbfFj

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 13, 2023

Brown is a deserving winner, leading the Kings to the playoffs for the first time since 2006. But Malone not even getting one vote is surprising.

Budenholzer led Milwaukee to No. 1 in the East, and he earned some love. Daigneault has the Thunder ahead of pace, Mazzulla and the Celtics are great and Tom Thibodeau gets the benefit of coaching the Knicks. Some votes seem to be more valid than others.

Again, this is the NBCA version of the award, with the NBA Coach of the Year results (as voted on by the media) revealed during the playoffs. Maybe Malone will have more luck in those sweepstakes, although this honor coming from his fellow coaches probably would’ve meant more.

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