NBA Coach of the Year Award Sees Mike Brown, Joe Mazzulla in Close Race
Monty Williams from the Phoenix Suns won the 2022 NBA Coach of the Year. But he s a long shot on the board at +10000 odds to win the prestigious award in consecutive seasons.Cow Town Surprise: Mike Brown +150
The Sacramento Kings last secured a trip to the playoffs in 2006, which is the longest any team in the NBA has gone without reaching the postseason. It s also the longest-standing postseason drought for any franchise in the four major American sports leagues. The Kings hired Brown to end that drought.
The Kings hoped Brown could guide the young Kings out of the basement and make the playoffs in a couple of seasons. The current squad is way ahead of schedule, and is the biggest surprise in the NBA this season. The Kings are in third place in the Western Conference standings with a 35-25 record. They also find themselves in first place in the Pacific Division, and .
During the preseason, oddsmakers set the Kings win total at 33.5 over/under. The Kings passed that number heading into the All-Star break. FiveThirtyEight projects the Kings will finish the season with a 45-37 record.
Under Brown, the Kings are the highest-scoring team in the NBA, averaging 120.7 points per game. That s 10 points higher than last season s average of 110.3 ppg, when the Kings were ranked #16 overall.
The high-octane Kings recently set a franchise mark by participating in the second-highest-scoring game in NBA history. The Kings 176-175 in double overtime on Friday night. With 176 points, the Kings scored the third-most points in NBA history.
After the first 30 games of the season, Brown was the fifth favorite on DraftKings NBA awards board at +700 odds. At that time, the Kings were in sixth place in the standings. With 22 games remaining, Brown emerged as the betting favorite to win the NBA Coach of the Year at +150 odds.