Sacramento’s Mike Brown and Boston’s Joe Mazzulla head this season’s NBA Coach of the Year odds

Back at the beginning of the season in October, not many would have predicted who would be today’s frontrunners to earn the title for the 2022/23 NBA Coach of the Year, as now we are less than a month away from the end of regular season on April 9. 

The race is now shrinking down to two top contenders, with Kings’ coach Mike Brown at the top, and Joe Mazzulla from Boston trailing close behind.

Why is it a surprise? Well, just the fact that Sacramento are 3rd in the Western Conference after missing the playoffs during the last 16 consecutive campaigns is quite a huge deal. Although they are led by players like Domantas Sabonis or De’Aaron Fox, the squad’s strength is in team work, as trainer Brown has insisted all throughout his first championship in charge of the Kings.

the Sacramento Kings were a listless, moribund franchise for 16 years.

Mike Brown walked through the doors of Golden 1 Center & changed that practically overnight.

if the Kings make the playoffs & he doesn't win Coach of the Year, the NBA should just scrap that award entirely. pic.twitter.com/xO3imVjp8M

— J r u e (@thatl0calguy) February 25, 2023

Not only are they bound to have a strong run in the playoffs to come, a few of our recommended sport betting sites actually do consider them to possess a title-contending case this year. Sacramento are believed to have the 12th best odds (+7000) in the league to go all the way and conquer the NBA Finals.

As for Boston, the team struggled through a tough start of the campaign after all the controversy surrounding Ime Udoka, the manager who had led them to last year’s NBA Finals and lost to the all-mighty Golden State Warriors. Not too much was expected from Mazzulla, who had just been the squad’s assistant coach, but quickly proved he had the guts to head this team which has been at the top of the general standings throughout the whole season.

Not too long ago, coach Joe removed his tag of interim as management rewarded him with a contract extension. Nowadays, all the sportsbooks around the league consider Boston to be the absolute favorites (+300) to lift the NBA trophy this tournament, as no other franchise has better odds than them.

The last coach to win the award was Monty Williams, who guided the Suns to a 64-18 record after the 2021/22 regular season, a franchise best for the Phoenix team. Today, the Arizona side stand 4th in the West, and would be quite the feat to earn the title for a second consecutive year as his odds are +15000.

Who are the favorites to win 2022-23 NBA Coach of the Year?

Let’s take a look to what the odds say according to BetOnline: