Joe Mazzulla? Doc Rivers? Jacque Vaughn? Who leads the NBA Coach of the Year
race?
Joe Mazzulla? Doc Rivers? Jacque Vaughn? 谁领跑NBA 年度最佳教练奖项?
https://tinyurl.com/mrk8y892 (The Athletic需付费)
作者:Josh Robbins, Sam Amick, James Edwards
Feb 1, 2023
Selecting an NBA Coach of the Year is a subjective endeavor.
This year’s competition features some familiar faces such as Mike Brown,
Mike Budenholzer and Doc Rivers, who all have won the award before. This year
’s contenders also include several candidates who are relatively new to the
scene by comparison: Taylor Jenkins, Joe Mazzulla and Jacque Vaughn.
So how is this season’s Coach of the Year race shaping up?
To answer that question, we turned to three members of The Athletic’s NBA
staff who voted for the award last year: Sam Amick, James L. Edwards III and
Josh Robbins.
评选NBA年度最佳教练是一件主观的事。
今年的赛季出现了一些熟悉的面孔，例如 Mike Brown, Mike Budenholzer 和 Doc
Rivers，他们之前都曾获奖过。今年的竞争者还包括几位相对较新的候选人：Taylor
Jenkins, Joe Mazzulla 和 Jacque Vaughn 。
那么本赛季的年度最佳教练竞争进展如何呢？
我们请了去年为该奖项投票的三位The Athletic 记者： Sam Amick、James L. Edwards
III和Josh Robbins 来回答这个问题
What are your criteria for selecting the NBA’s Coach of the Year?
Sam Amick: Breaking down the Coach of the Year race is always an inexact
science. You don’t have the sort of empirical data that play such a big part
in evaluating which players deserve all of the individual awards, nor do you
have a crystal-clear understanding of how each coach has impacted his team on
a daily basis. In the absence of that, I tend to focus on a few things.
1. Coaches whose teams were far better than we expected them to be.
2. Coaches whose teams appeared greater than the sum of their parts.
3. Coaches who appear to have synergy stylistically with star player(s) and
role guys.
4. Here’s my personal cheat code: I favor coaches who impress their fellow
coaches, scouts and executives around the league with whom we routinely speak
with and whose insight is invaluable. To put it simply, those people spend
every waking moment analyzing this stuff and are the real experts.
问: 选择NBA年度最佳教练的标准是什么？
Sam Amick：分析年度最佳教练奖项是一门不太精准的科学。毕竟评估教练无法像评估球
员一样有个人数据可以当作参考，也无法清楚地了解每位教练每天如何执教他的球队。在
没有上述的条件下，我倾向着重在以下几点。
1. 球队表现比预期的要好得多。
2. 整体团队数据在联盟水准之上。
3. 在脚色球员和明星球员分配上有达到协调作用。
4. 这是我个人偏好：我喜欢那些能对其他球队教练、球探和高层留下深刻印象的教练，
我们经常与他们交谈，他们的观察力是无价的。简单来说，这些人无时无刻都在分析这些
东西，他们是真正的专家。
James Edwards: I’m very much a sucker for a good story. Has a team exceeded
my expectations? Does a team put up a fight on most nights? Are the vibes
good? Loosely, that is my criteria.
A lot of the NBA’s awards are determined on high-level team success, and
while I understand that to an extent, I think it is often very shortsighted.
If a team we expected to be in the bottom three ends up playing .500
basketball past the halfway point of the season, that’s something, and it
should be celebrated the same way we crown good teams for being, well, good.
James Edwards：我喜欢一个好的故事。球队是否超出了我的预期？球队每场球赛都拼尽
全力吗？球队氛围好吗？简单来说，这些是我的标准。
NBA 很多奖项都是由那些优秀球队来决定得主的，虽然我能理解这一点，但我认为这是非
常短视的。
如果我们季前预测一支球队，排在联盟倒数前三，结果在赛季中打了五成胜率。那我们应
该以同样的方式去表扬该球队。
Josh Robbins: Has the coach’s team significantly exceeded expectations? Is
the coach’s team more than the sum of its parts? Do the players have clearly
defined roles, and do they avoid going beyond those roles — what coaches
would label “purpose of play”? Has the coach successfully guided the team
through injuries to key players or off-court issues?
The answers to those questions tend to determine my vote, and the answers
clearer as the season progresses.
Josh Robbins：球队表现是否明显超出预期？整体团队是否在联盟水准之上？球员是否有
明确的角色分配？有无避免这些球员做超出他们角色的工作？——教练如何给与“战术”
？教练是否成功地带领球队克服球员伤病或场外问题?
这些问题的答案往往会决定我的投票，并且随着赛季的进行，答案会更加明确。
Nine of the last 10 Coach of the Year winners coached a team that finished
third or better in its conference standings. The only exception occurred for
the 2020-21 season, when the New York Knicks’ Tom Thibodeau won the award
after his team placed fourth in the East. What would it take for a coach
whose team is not in the top three of its conference to win the award?
过去 10 位年度最佳教练中，有 9 位教练的球队在分区排名至少都有前三。唯一一次例
外发生在 2020-21 赛季的纽约尼克队，当时Tom Thibodeau带领的尼克在东区排第四。对
于球队战绩不在分区前三名的教练来说，要获得这个奖项需要什么条件？
Amick: This might be another outlier year on this front, and I’d be entirely
comfortable with that being the case if it’s one of these two guys:
Sacramento’s Mike Brown or Brooklyn’s Jacque Vaughn. The Kings are far
better than anyone expected, and Brown’s fingerprints are all over their
progress. If they finished, say, fourth in the West, that would be quite
incredible considering this is a franchise that hasn’t been to the playoffs
since … 2006! As for Vaughn, he has been a steadying force ever since the
Nets parted ways with Steve Nash in early November and gave him the reins.
Even with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant missing significant time, and the Ben
Simmons experience continuing to be a roller coaster, Brooklyn is hanging
around with the East’s elite. If the Nets are a fourth seed, I could see
Vaughn winning it.
Sam Amick: 在这方面，今年可能又是一个异常的年份，如果是国王队Mike Brown 或篮网
队 Jacque Vaughn 这两个人其中的一个得奖，我能可以接受。国王队今年打得比大家预
期还要好得多，Brown的足迹遍布国王队的发展。如果他们以西区第四的成绩结束赛季，
那将是非常不可思议的，毕竟这是支自2006年以来就没有进过季后赛的球队！至于
Vaughn，自从篮网在11月初与 Steve Nash 分道扬镳后，Vaughn一直是个稳定的力量。即
使 Kyrie Irving 和 Kevin Durant 缺席了很多时间，Ben Simmons起起伏伏，篮网仍能
在东区名列前茅。如果篮网是第四种子，我可以预测Vaughn会赢。
Edwards: Similar to what I explained up top, exceeding expectations.
Obviously, expectations vary depending on who you talk to, but I think we as
NBA media tend to have collective thinking when it comes to which teams we
think will or won’t be good. Every year, though, there are always surprises.
I like to reward those surprises.
Spoiler alert: My pick for Coach of the Year coaches a team that has capital
“E” exceeded everyone’s expectations.
James Edwards: 与我在上面解释的差不多，就是超出预期。显然地，每个人的期望有所
不同，但我认为作为NBA媒体，当我们谈到哪些球队会表现好或不好时，我们倾向于集体
思考。不过，每年总会有惊喜发生。而我喜欢奖励那些惊喜。
剧透：我选出的年度最佳教练执教了一支超出了所有人预期的球队。
Robbins: I wouldn’t have any qualms voting for a coach whose team finishes
outside of the top three in its conference as long as that team has exceeded
reasonable expectations by a wide margin.
Josh Robbins: 只要球队打出超出预期的表现，就算是排在分区前三之外， 我也会毫无
疑虑地投给他。
The NBA asks voters to pick first-, second- and third-place for Coach of the
Year. Taking into account games through games played so far, how would you
vote today?
截至目前为止，你今天会怎么选出年度最佳教练的第一、第二和第三名。？
Amick: First of all, I reserve the right to change my mind a dozen more times
before the season comes to an end. But if I’m picking today, then I’d go
with Brown (the Kangz, err, Kings are third in the West), Vaughn (for the
reasons mentioned above) and Rivers (for now, it appears he has persuaded his
stars to align in the kind of way that has the Sixers looking title-contender
worthy). Boston’s Mazzulla is in the mix too, of course, as the Celtics have
been out in front all season long despite the Ime Udoka controversy that
could have derailed their operation. In terms of a Coach of the Year homework
assignment, I need to learn more about how the Celtics folks and rival scouts
see the part that he has played.
Sam Amick: 首先，我保留在赛季结束前再改变主意十几次的权利。但如果今天让我选的
话，我会选国王Brown(西区第三)，篮网Vaughn(原因前面提过)和七六人Rivers(目前看起
来，他已经整合了球队中的明星，让七六人看起来有机会冲击冠军)。当然，赛尔提克的
Mazzulla也在其中，因为赛尔提克在整个赛季都处于联盟龙头位置，尽管Ime Udoka的事
件破坏之前球队的运作。就年度最佳教练讨论而言，我需要更多地了解赛尔提克和球探是
如何看待Mazzulla所扮演的角色。
Edwards: I’ve been hinting at who my pick is, and it’s someone whose name I
’m not sure 60 percent of basketball fans — and that number might be
cutting it way short — knew to start the season: Mark Daigneault. People are
learning to say his name now.
After that, I have the Kings’ Mike Brown at No. 2 and then New Orleans’
Willie Green at No.3.
James Edwards：我一直在暗示我的选择是谁，我不确定在开季前，有没有60%的球迷知道
这个人:雷霆队教练Mark Daigneault。人们正在认识他的名字。
之后是国王队的Mike Brown排在第 2 位，然后是鹈鹕队的Willie Green排在第 3 位。
Robbins: A lot can change before the end of the regular season, but if the
season had ended Monday, my ballot would have Brown first, Vaughn second and
Mazzulla third.
Last season, the Kings finished 12th in the West at 30-52. Brown was hired
during the offseason and has guided the Kings to third place in the West at
28-21. I know Domantas Sabonis was a trade-deadline acquisition last year, so
I’m not quite comparing apples to apples, but Brown’s impact on the Kings
has been superb. (Sacramento posted a 5-10 record last season in games
Sabonis played.)
Josh Robbins：在例行赛结束之前，很多事情都会发生变化，但如果赛季在周一结束，我
的选票将是Brown 第一，Vaughn 第二，Mazzulla 第三。
上赛季，国王队战绩 30胜52败排在西区第 12 位。Brown 在休赛期被雇用，本季带领国
王队以 28胜21败的成绩排名西区第三。我知道 Domantas Sabonis 是去年的交易截止日
期换来的，我不是就此而比较，但Brown对国王有卓越的影响。（国王上赛季在Sabonis
加入后出赛后战积为 5 胜10败。）
What separated your choice for the winner from your choice for runner-up?
第一名和第二名的差别在哪?
Amick: Full disclosure, I live near Sacramento and have since even before my
days as a Kings beat writer for The Sacramento Bee (2005-10). Point being, I
was actually in the building the last time the Kings made the playoffs and
have a front row seat now to the excitement this “Beam Team” has sparked in
the community this season. But even beyond that impossible-to-ignore context,
the fact remains that the Kings (so far) have exceeded expectations more, in
my opinion, than the Nets. At least from a talent standpoint. Once you factor
in the Durant trade request in the summer, his calling for the dismissal of
GM Sean Marks and Nash and Irving’s well-chronicled choice to share
antisemitic material on his social media, you start to understand why Vaughn
deserves a ton of credit for steadying their basketball ship.
Sam Amick: 坦白地说，在我成为国王作家之前我就住在Sacramento 附近。重点是，上次
国王队进到季后赛时，我实际上就在球场里。而现在我坐在前排，看着这支 “Beam Team
” 在本季引起轰动 。但抛开这背景故事，在我看来国王队（到目前为止）比篮网队更
超出预期。至少从天赋的角度来看。一但你考虑到 Durant 在夏天提出的交易请求，并要
求解雇GM Sean Marks和Nash，以及Irving在社交媒体上分享反犹太主义，你就会开始理
解为什么Vaughn 在稳定球队方面是功不可没的。
Edwards: Once again, it goes back to expectations. The Thunder weren’t
supposed to be this good this year — and the fact that I’m saying “this
good” and they’re two games under .500 as of me typing this says all you
need to know. This isn’t a super-talented roster. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander,
who will be on my MVP ballot if this keeps up and OKC makes the Play-In
Tournament, and Josh Giddey are the household names. After that, Chet
Holmgren aside, your average NBA fan probably can’t name two other players.
And, well, can you blame them? What OKC has done this season has been
impressive. SGA has been tremendous. Giddey, too. It’s hard to get players
to continue to play hard for you, to buy in, after so many losing seasons.
Somehow, someway, Daigneault has kept everyone’s spirits high, and it’s
paying off.
As for the reason I went with Daigneault ahead of Brown, it’s the talent
level. Yes, Gilgeous-Alexander is the best player if you were to mash the
Kings and Thunder together, but Sacramento probably has the next two or three
spots locked up, and then, arguably, spots 5-9. Brown being the guy to get
the Kings, possibly, over the hump is a great achievement, and maybe I’m
contradicting myself, but he didn’t inherit a team that was lacking talent.
Maybe the coaching is the difference in Sacramento, and I just spent this
entire time accidentally talking myself into Brown. But I’m stubborn, so I’
m going to stick with Daigneault because I still can’t believe the Thunder
are basically a .500 basketball team.
James Edwards: 再一次回到了预期表现这个话题。雷霆队今年不应该这么好——我说的
“这么好”，是指就在我打字同时，他们距离五成胜率只差了两场，这就说明了一切。雷
霆不是一个超级天赋球队。Shai Gilgeous-Alexander如果按照这种情况持续下去，并且
OKC 进入附加赛，他将在我的 MVP 选票上，而 Josh Giddey 是家喻户晓的名字。在那之
后除了Chet Holmgren，普通 NBA 球迷可能说不出另外两位雷霆球员的名字。好吧，你能
责怪他们吗？雷霆本赛季的表现令人印象深刻。SGA 非常棒。Giddey 也是。在经历了这
么多失利的赛季之后，很难让球员继续为你打球和信任你。不知何故，Daigneault 让每
名球员都保持了高昂的斗志，并得到回报。
至于我选择 Daigneault 而不是 Brown 的原因，是球员的天赋水平。是的，如果你把国
王和雷霆所有球员混在一起排名，SGA 是最好的球员，但接下来的就是国王队的2-3位球
员，再来5到9名还是国王队的。Brown 是让国王队渡过难关的人，这是一项伟大的成就，
也许这有点矛盾，但Brown不是继承了一支缺乏天赋的球队。
也许差别就在于执教Sacramento，而这整段时间我也不小心说服了自己去选Brown。但我
很固执，所以我会继续选Daigneault ，因为我仍然无法相信雷霆几乎是一支有五成胜率
的球队。
Robbins: The separation between Brown and Vaughn is razor-thin in my eyes.
Brown gets the slight edge because the Nets have more overall talent and
entered the season with higher expectations than the Kings had.
That said, the job Vaughn has done to steady the Nets through the midseason
dismissal of Nash, the Irving debacle and Durant’s injury has been
fantastic. Before Nash was fired, the Nets allowed 119.1 points per 100
possessions, ranking 29th in the NBA in defensive rating. Since Nash’s
dismissal, Vaughn had the Nets allowing only 111.2 points per 100 possessions
through Monday, good for sixth in the NBA.
Josh Robbins：在我看来，Brown 和Vaughn 之间的差距微乎其微。Brown 略占优势，因
为篮网队比国王拥有更高的天赋，并且有着更高的期盼。
也就是说，篮网面临赛季中解雇Nash、Irving崩溃和Durant受伤期间，Vaughn 在稳定篮
网这方面所做的工作非常棒。在Nash被解雇之前，篮网队每百回合失分119.1分，防守效
率排名联盟第29位。自从Nash被解雇后，Vaughn 让篮网队每百回合仅失分 111.2 分，
在 NBA 排名第六。