Denver Nuggets coach George Karl was named the NBA Coach of the Year for the 2012-13 regular season on Wednesday, according to The Associated Press. Karl led Denver to a 57-25 overall record, the best finish in Nuggets franchise history.
Karl received 62 first-place votes, followed by Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat with 24. New York's Mike Woodson finished third and San Antonio's Gregg Popovich, who won the award last season, was fourth. The voting process involved a panel of sports writers and broadcasters.
Under Karl, Denver finished with the league's fourth-best record and captured the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference. However, the Nuggets were eliminated by the Golden State Warriors after a 92-88 loss in Game 6 last Thursday night.
"I am honored and energized to represent coaching and be their ambassador as coach of the year and continue to symbolize the great coaching there is in the NBA," Karl said in a statement. "There are probably seven or eight guys who are deserving of it and another 10 or 15 other coaches who have done a great job and aren't getting any recognition."
This marks the first time Karl has won the award during his 25 seasons as an NBA coach. During that span, Karl has served as the head coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors, Seattle SuperSonics and Milwaukee Bucks before joining the Nuggets in 2005. He joins Doug Moe as the only Denver coaches to earn the honor.
The Nuggets finished the season strong, winning a team-record 15 straight at one point and going 24-4 after the All-Star break. The team also won a franchise-best 38 games at the Pepsi Center.
In Karl's up-tempo offense, the Nuggets led the league in scoring, fast-break points and points in the paint. However, their early playoff exit was due in large part to their inability to stop Warriors guard Stephen Curry and the absence of 3-point threat Danilo Gallinari to answer Curry's streaky shooting from behind the arch.
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