Dwane Casey Wins NBA Coach of the Year Award

Dwane Casey has been named the NBA Coach of the Year during the second ever NBA Awards Show. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images North America)

Former Kentucky guard and current head coach of the Detroit Pistons, Dwane Casey, has been named the 2017-18 NBA Coach of the Year during the second ever NBA Awards Show.

The 2018 NBA Coach of the Year is Dwane Casey!#NBAAwards pic.twitter.com/fugXwkuTWI

— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) June 26, 2018

Dwane Casey talks about his firing from the #Raptors as he accepts his Coach of the Year award pic.twitter.com/uXvt6UMSKG

— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) June 26, 2018

Casey coached the Toronto Raptors to a franchise-record 59 wins and an appearance in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. He was subsequently fired from the Raptors as the team failed to reach the NBA Finals once again and the franchise was desperate to find a new identity.

Casey won the award over Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens and Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder.

Casey went 320-238 during his seven seasons in Toronto, consistently placing them in the national spotlight thanks to five straight playoff appearances and significant improvement in each passing season.

A month after being fired, Casey was quickly picked up by the Pistons and the excitement surrounding him and the city of Detroit is higher than it ever was during their previous four seasons with Stan Van Gundy as head coach.

He may have been fired from the Raptors, but Casey has now added two different Coach of the Year awards (one from his fellow coaches, this one from the media) and found a new job on a team with two All-Stars, Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond.

Congratulations to Casey and good luck to him in Detroit!