Last week was pretty good for the Golden State Warriors as they reached the Western Conference Finals for the second season in a row following a 4-1 series victory over the Portland Trail Blazers, Stephen Curry was named the first-ever unanimous NBA MVP and Steve Kerr received the NBA Coach of the Year award.
Instead of congratulating the Warriors on their tremendous accomplishments, Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James has been whining about how Curry didn’t deserve the MVP because the term “valuable” is open for discussion and now that Kerr didn’t deserve the award because of the job Blazers’ head coach Terry Stotts did this season.
While I agree that Stotts certainly deserved to win the award, Kerr was the rightful recipient. The only reason it’s even a question is because Kerr missed the first 43 games of the season due to back surgery and assistant Luke Walton led the Warriors to a 39-4 record in his absence. Had those wins been credited to Walton’s head coaching record, then Stotts would’ve won, but the NBA ruled that they would be credited to Kerr.
A head coach who technically set the NBA record by leading his team to 73 wins in a single season was the correct choice for Coach of the Year. For Cavaliers fans, it’s a good thing that there are no more awards to be handed out so that LeBron can actually start focusing on things on the court rather than complaining about things off of it.