Portland Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts finished second in the voting for coach of the year. But in the eyes of Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James, Stotts deserved to win the award over the Golden State Warriors’ Steve Kerr, whose team beat the Trail Blazers Wednesday night to clinch a spot in the Western Conference Finals for a second straight year.
“I think Terry Stotts should have been or could have been Coach of the Year,” James told Cleveland.com’s Chris Haynes. “I can’t remember the last time that I’ve seen a team lose four starters and still be in the same position as far as the postseason success they had.”
Portland lost Nicolas Batum, Wesley Matthews, Robin Lopez and LaMarcus Aldridge last summer. No one expected the Trail Blazers to return to the playoffs this season, let alone make it to the second round.
Sure, the Warriors won 73 games, but Kerr was missing for 43 of them. If anything, Luke Walton should have been up for coach of the year, having led the Warriors to a 39-4 record in Kerr’s absence.
Meanwhile, Stotts lost four starters and still managed to get his team into the playoffs with a ragtag group surrounding Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum. Now, the Trail Blazers will reportedly explore a contract extension beyond 2016-17 with Stotts to keep him in Portland.
Just in case you wondering, Stotts received 37 first-place votes for coach of the year compared to 64 for Kerr. Under the circumstances, James is right: Stotts should have won it.
