Cavaliers' Kenny Atkinson wins NBA Coach of the Year award - ESPN

Kenny Atkinson of the Cleveland Cavaliers has been named the NBA Coach of the Year after leading the team to 64 wins and the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs in his first year in the job.

Atkinson received 59 of the possible 100 first-place votes from the media panel, beating out Detroit Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, the man he replaced, for the honor. Houston Rockets coach Ime Udoka finished third.

«When this [job] came open… I was like 'holy s---,' whatever my presentation is it's got to be the best thing I've ever done',» Atkinson said recently. «This was like a must job.»

Atkinson won out a long search the Cavaliers conducted last May and June, flying back-and-forth between Cleveland and France, where he was an assistant coach on the French national team for interviews. One of his primary selling points to Cavaliers' front office leaders Koby Altman and Mike Gansey was how strong he felt the existing Cavaliers roster was and how he saw ways he could maximize it.

What happened was Cavaliers, up and down the roster, ended up having spectacular seasons under Atkinson's guidance. The team had three All-Stars — Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley — and developed a devastating bench rotation with reserves Ty Jerome and De'Andre Hunter having career seasons as well.

Atkinson's biggest mission was unlocking Mobley, who the Cavs saw as a key to teamwide improvement. Working with team captain Mitchell, Atkinson re-arranged the team's rotations to make sure the two played together for more minutes. He also designed sets to more challenge Mobley as a playmaker and outside shooter.

Mobley tripled his 3-pointers, averaged a career-high 18.5 points per game and in addition to his first All-Star