Raptors coach Nick Nurse named NBA Coach of the Year
Updated 22:18, 23-Aug-2020
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Nick Nurse, head coach of the Toronto Raptors, holds the NBA Coach of the Year trophy in Orlando, Florida on August 22, 2020. /VCG

Nick Nurse, head coach of the Toronto Raptors, holds the NBA Coach of the Year trophy in Orlando, Florida on August 22, 2020. /VCG

Nick Nurse, head coach of the Toronto Raptors, was named the NBA Coach of the Year, announced the league on Saturday.

According to ESPN, Nurse won the award with dominant advantage over his two competitors, Mike Budenholzer of the Milwaukee Bucks and Billi Donovan of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Nurse received 90 of the 100 first-place votes, six second-place and two third-place votes, which gave him 470 points. Budenholzer came second with 147 points. Donovan got 134.

When Nurse won the NBA championship with the Raptors in 2019 (which was his first year as head coach), many owed the success to the incredible performance of Kawhi Leonard. In that summer, Leonard left for the Los Angeles Clippers.

"You still have a job to do. We looked at it as opportunities for the other guys," said Nurse of his mindset after Leonard's departure.

Kyle Lowry (L) and Fred VanVleet (R) of the Toronto Raptors congratulate their head coach for being named the NBA Coach of the Year in Orlando, Florida on August 22, 2020. /VCG

Kyle Lowry (L) and Fred VanVleet (R) of the Toronto Raptors congratulate their head coach for being named the NBA Coach of the Year in Orlando, Florida on August 22, 2020. /VCG

Then there was the 2019-20 season, which Toronto finished with a franchise record of 73.6 percentage (53-19). Nurses' team averaged 13.8 triples (3rd-best), 8.8 steals (2nd-best), 18.8 fast-break points (1st) per game. They had the league's second-best defense (defensive rating 104.7) and achieved franchise-record 15 straight wins between January and February.

Currently, they lead 3-0 over the Brooklyn Nets in the series.

"They're very special," said Nurse of his players. "Let's start with Kyle (Lowry) and Fred (VanVleet) and the rest of the players and staff and all that kind of stuff. It just doesn't happen (without them). It's a real organizational-type award. I said that when we went to coach the All-Star Game, too, but it's true. You're not given that award without guys like Kyle and Fred, Serge (Ibaka) and Marc (Gasol), Pascal (Siakam) and OG (Anunoby), all the way down that are going out there and performing on the court every night. (And) you're not getting an award without a great staff."