Pistons’ J.B. Bickerstaff Voted NBCA Coach of the Year
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The National Basketball Coaches Association has selected Detroit Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff as the recipient of the Michael H. Goldberg NBCA Coach of the Year Award for the 2025-26 season, the group announced in a press release.
Established in 2017 and named in honor of longtime NBCA executive director Michael H. Goldberg, the award is determined solely by a vote of the league’s 30 head coaches, with no coach permitted to cast a ballot for himself.
Bickerstaff, hired by Detroit during the 2024 offseason, engineered one of the NBA’s sharpest turnarounds. The Pistons jumped from a franchise-worst 14-68 record to 44-38 in his first year, then posted a 60-22 mark this season—only the third 60-win campaign in team history and the first in 20 years.
Detroit finished 2025-26 with the league’s second-best defensive rating (108.9) and tied San Antonio for the No. 2 overall net rating (+8.4), achieving those numbers despite the 18-game absence of leading scorer Cade Cunningham.
The Goldberg Award often foreshadows the NBA’s official Coach of the Year honor, which is chosen by media members and represented by the Red Auerbach Trophy. Seven of the previous nine NBCA winners also claimed the league award, including 2025 recipient Kenny Atkinson of the Cavaliers. The NBA’s announcement is expected later this spring.
According to the NBCA, seven coaches received votes this season. In addition to Bickerstaff, ballots included Mark Daigneault (Thunder), Mitch Johnson (Spurs), Charles Lee (Hornets), Joe Mazzulla (Celtics), Quin Snyder (Hawks), and Tiago Splitter (Trail Blazers).
Source: Hoops Rumors
