The NBA Postseason Awards: A Time for Debate

The NBA’s awards season is often a contentious moment in the league’s calendar.

Not only the results themselves stir debate, but the voting outcomes for various awards do too.

Lakers fans are fiercely defending Luka Doncic, arguing he deserved a higher spot—perhaps even fourth place or better—in the league MVP rankings. This award ultimately went to Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for the second year in a row.

Some fans believe Doncic should have received a unanimous selection for the All-NBA First Team, rather than settling for 91 first-team votes and nine second-team votes.

Voters often find themselves justifying their decisions. For example, Justin Termain from SiriusXM was the only voter who left Victor Wembanyama off his All-NBA First Team, explaining his choice for the second team instead.

Conversations around “snubs” are pretty standard in any NBA Awards cycle.

This past Tuesday, when the Coach of the Year voting results were announced, it became clear that Celtics coach Joe Mazzula took home the award. Meanwhile, Lakers coach J.J. Redick ended up in seventh place, receiving three third-place votes.

This placement seems fairly justified, actually. While one could argue Redick deserved more support, his vote tally wasn’t out of line.

The Coach of the Year title is often granted to a coach who guides the most well-performing team.

It’s important to note that the Lakers indeed raised eyebrows this season, especially considering their preseason predictions.

However, Mazzula and other finalists, like the Pistons’ JB Bickerstaff and the Spurs’ Mitch Johnson, had teams that outperformed expectations even further than Redick’s Lakers.

After Jayson Tatum’s significant injury, the Celtics were viewed more or less as a “blank slate” for the 2025-26 season. Surprisingly, they still racked up 56 wins, landing second in the Eastern Conference.

The Pistons, who were generally expected to be in the mix for a playoff spot, finished the regular season with significantly more wins than anticipated.

Similarly, while the Spurs were seen as a potential play-in team, they managed to win 18 more games than expected, positioning themselves as a top contender.

Additionally, Hornets coach Charles Lee and Suns coach Jordon Ott, who took fourth and fifth place in the voting, respectively, also guided their teams to unexpected postseason success.

But that shouldn’t diminish the accomplishments of Redick and his staff. His leadership led the Lakers to a successful season with 53 wins, despite some key players missing considerable time on the court due to injuries.

Even with a roster that lacked depth compared to other Western Conference teams, Redick was instrumental in pushing the Lakers beyond expectations, scoring seven more wins than the preseason projection.

That said, the coaches receiving finalists’ recognition demonstrated clear grounds for outperforming Redick’s efforts this season. Ending up in the fourth-to-seventh place range seems to reflect a realistic expectation for him.

That said, it certainly doesn’t undermine what he achieved during his brief coaching tenure.

Redick has shown remarkable skill in defensive strategy over back-to-back 50-win seasons, helping the Lakers to surpass expectations in that regard again.

He’s likely to remain a prominent Coach of the Year candidate for years ahead, but it’s clear there were other coaches with more compelling cases this time around.