Detroit — The Pistons’ impressive comeback this season serves as a vindication for coach J.B. Bickerstaff. A year after his firing from the Cleveland Cavaliers last May, Bickerstaff was one of three finalists for Coach of the Year honors.
On Monday night, the NBA announced that Cavaliers’ Kenny Atkinson won the award for the 2024-25 season after guiding Cleveland to a 64-18 record, which is the second-best in franchise history. He beat out Bickerstaff and Houston Rockets coach Ime Udoka, who finished second and third, respectively, in voting.
Bickerstaff received 31 first-place votes, while Atkinson had 59.
“The job is about those guys in the locker room and trying to do the most for them, and help them as much as you can,” Bickerstaff said following the Pistons’ first-round elimination to the New York Knicks last week. “That’s all I really cared about. Just trying to help young men grow professionally, grow personally and build a team. That’s the fun part about my job.”
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Although Atkinson and Udoka (52) led their respective teams to more regular-season wins, Bickerstaff became a prime candidate for the award due to Detroit’s astonishing turnaround under his stewardship.
En route to ending the franchise’s six-year playoff drought, the Pistons became the first team in history to triple their win total from the previous season with a 44-38 record. Last season, under former coach Monty Williams, Detroit finished 14-68, which included a record-setting 28-game losing streak.
The Pistons made notable improvements under Bickerstaff in his first year, with the most significant development being defense. Detroit finished the regular season with the NBA’s 10th-best defense, with a defensive rating of 112.5.
“When you find 15 guys in a space, and you do your best to bring them together to create a team, that’s what we were able to do,” Bickerstaff said. “It’s about the guys in that locker room. It’s about the organization. It’s about our fanbase. At the end of the day, that’s all that matters.”
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