Dwane Casey wins NBA Coach of the Year award
Former Raptors coach was fired in off-season before being hired by Detroit
Dwane Casey won the NBA Coach of the Year award on Monday night despite getting fired by the Toronto Raptors earlier in the off-season.
Casey beat out Quin Snyder of the Utah Jazz and Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens for the honour.
The 61-year-old Casey was the most successful coach in Raptors history, but was fired on May 11, five days after being nominated for the NBA's Coach of the Year award. He signed a five-year deal with the Detroit Pistons on June 11 to become their new bench boss.
Casey had a lengthy list of people he thanked on stage at the NBA Awards, including his wife Brenda and their children Zachary and Justine, as well as the Raptors players.
"All the players in Toronto in the past four or five years," said Casey, who led the Raptors to a franchise-best 59 wins this season to earn the top seed in the Eastern Conference for the first time ever. "DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry, Jonas Valanciunas, all the core guys that built the program to where it is today.
"Finishing with the 59 wins this year, franchise record, those guys are four-time all-stars, Olympians, I'm so proud of them."
Casey was fired after the Cleveland Cavaliers swept Toronto out of the Eastern Conference semifinal for the second straight year.
Congratulations to Dwane. <a href="https://t.co/LoviJVFllD">https://t.co/LoviJVFllD</a>
—@RaptorsHe's also the 2018 recipient of the Michael H. Goldberg Coach of the Year Award, which is handed out by the NBA Coaches Association. That honour is separate from the league's coach of the year award.
On Monday, Casey acknowledged the irony of being fired a day after being recognized by his peers for his accomplishments.
"When you get fired, which I did recently, I don't know if you knew that or not, after winning coach of the year," said Casey to laughs from the crowd. "You always doubt yourself a little bit. You think 'OK, can I do this? Do I want to do this again?'
"But then I interviewed with Tom Gores, the owner of the Detroit Pistons. He and I connected and he's given me an opportunity that I'm very appreciative of. For someone to believe in you, that's all you want as a player and as a coach."
Raptors guard Fred VanVleet was also nominated for an award, but missed out on being named the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year, losing to former Toronto player Lou Williams.
The Los Angeles Clippers guard became the first player to average at least 20 points for the first time in his 13th season or later. He led the league in fourth-quarter points and scoring average.
Harden voted MVP
Third time was the charm for James Harden.
The Houston Rockets star was voted the NBA's Most Valuable Player after twice being runner-up, beating out four-time winner LeBron James and Anthony Davis of the Pelicans.
Harden joined Michael Jordan as the only players to average at least 20 points, eight assists, five rebounds and 1.7 steals in a season.
He led the league in scoring, 3-pointers and 50-point games with four while helping the Rockets to an NBA-leading 65 wins.
"The last four years have been like knocking on the door, knocking on the door. Now the moment is finally here," Harden said backstage. "Just every single year you try to come back and be better than you were the year before, and just to be holding that trophy finally, it means a lot."
James didn't attend the show in Barker Hangar at the Santa Monica Airport amid frenzied speculation about his future. He has until Friday to tell the Cavaliers if he will pick up his $35.6 million US option for next season or opt for free agency.
Harden, who is from Los Angeles, led his mother on stage before he accepted the trophy from Commissioner Adam Silver.
"I'm not going to get emotional," he said from behind dark sunglasses. "She's my backbone in good times and bad times."
Harden received a total of 965 points and 86 first-place votes. James finished second with 738 points and 15 first-place votes, while Davis was third with 445 points and no first-place votes.
Harden didn't prepare a speech.
"I felt like last year I should have won as well, so I didn't see a difference between last year and this year," he said backstage. "If I won it, then I was going to go off the top and try to show my appreciation to everybody helping me along the way."
Simmons gets Rookie nod
Philadelphia 76ers' Ben Simmons took Rookie of the Year honours.
The guard averaged 15 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, joining Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson as the only rookies to post those numbers in a season.
Simmons helped Philadelphia to a 52-30 record, including ending the season with a 16-game winning streak.
Lou Williams of the Los Angeles Clippers claimed the Sixth Man of the Year award. The guard became the first player to average at least 20 points for the first time in his 13th season or later.
He edged Houston's Eric Gordon, last year's winner, and Fred VanVleet of Toronto.
Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz is the Defensive Player of the Year. Gobert anchored a Jazz defence that ranked second in the NBA in defensive rating.
Victor Oladipo of the Indiana Pacers took home the Most Improved Player award. The guard averaged 23.1 points in his first season with the Pacers. He earned his first All-Star berth, too.
With files from the Associated Press and CBC Sports