Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire
Author: Anthony Vlahovic
Last Updated: 06 May, 2025
2024-25 NBA Coach of the Year Odds
The sheer amount of talent in the NBA is off the charts, but only a select few coaches can get all that talent to work together and buy into a system. Heading into the 2023-24 season, OKC Thunder head coach Mark Daineault was handed one of the youngest rosters in the NBA, and by getting them to the number one seed in the Western Conference, he earned himself the Coach of the Year Award.
The Coach of the Year Award is not just handed to the coach whose team had the best record. Plenty of factors could go into it, including whether a team exceeded expectations or found success despite dealing with a plethora of injuries. As we've seen over the years, coaches in their first year with a team can have a slight edge in this award, and this year was no different, with Kenny Atkinson winning it during his first season in Cleveland.
2024-25 NBA Coach of the Year - Best Odds
*Kenny Atkinson has won the 2024-25 Coach of the Year Award. Once the odds for the 2025-26 award are released, we will update all subsequent tables.
2024-25 NBA Coach of the Year - Top 4 Contenders
Coach | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Kenny Atkinson | ||||
JB Bickerstaff | ||||
Ime Udoka |
*Odds as of May 6, 2025
2024-25 Coach of the Year Winner
Kenny Atkinson (Cleveland Cavaliers): In his first season as the Cavs' head coach, Atkinson guided his team to a 64-18 regular season record, which was good enough to earn Cleveland the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Cavs were a solid team last season, but under Atkinson's system, they ranked first in points per 100 possessions in non-garbage time (122.5), per Cleaning the Glass. Cleveland also produced the second-best point differential in the league during the regular season and became only the second team in NBA history to have three separate winning streaks of at least 12 games.
Past Coach of the Year Winners
Season | Coach | Team | Opening odds |
|---|---|---|---|
2024-25 | Kenny Atkinson | Cleveland Cavaliers | +1800 |
2023-24 | Mark Daigneault | Oklahoma City Thunder | +700 |
2022-23 | Mike Brown | Sacramento Kings | +8000 |
2021-22 | Monty Williams | Phoenix Suns | +2000 |
2020-21 | Tom Thibodeau | New York Knicks | +8000 |
2019-20 | Nick Nurse | Toronto Raptors | +2000 |
2018-19 | Mike Budenholzer | Milwaukee Bucks | +1100 |
2017-18 | Dwane Casey | Toronto Raptors | +3000 |
2016-17 | Mike D'Antoni | Houston Rockets | +3000 |
2015-16 | Steve Kerr | Golden State Warriors | +575 |
2014-15 | Mike Budenholzer | Atlanta Hawks | +25000 |
Coach of the Year Trends: When Excellence Isn’t Enough
Voter fatigue is a commonly used phrase for the NBA award season, and it most certainly applies to Coach of the Year voting. A coach may lead their team to the best record in the NBA one season, and that could earn them the award. However, if they do the same thing the following year, it may not be enough to win the award again.
Does this phenomenon make sense? No. But is it something to remember when placing futures on the award? Absolutely. If you look back at some of the great dynasties in the NBA, a casual fan may think the coach of that team would win Coach of the Year, but that has proven not to be the case.
Most recently, the Golden State Warriors reached the NBA Finals every year from 2015 to 2019, winning the title in three of those seasons. Even with all that success, though, Steve Kerr has only won Coach of the Year once in his coaching career, and it came when Golden State won 73 games in 2016.
Voter fatigue can teach bettors a valuable lesson: there is no exact formula for winning this award. First-year coaches or coaches who turn around a struggling franchise always seem to get an advantage in markets such as this one, while experienced coaches who have sustained success may be overlooked when the votes come in.
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