Thunder's Mark Daigneault, Cavs' Kenny Atkinson win NBA Coach of the Month awards

The head coaches of the teams with best records in the NBA have claimed the Coach of the Month awards for their respective conferences, the league announced Thursday in a press release.

Mark Daigneault, who guided the Thunder to a 12-1 record in December, won the award for the Western Conference. Oklahoma City is currently 27-5, the second-best mark in the NBA and the top seed in the West.

Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson won the East’s award for the second consecutive time. Cleveland also went 12-1 last month and is currently 29-4, the best record in the league.

If the season ended today, Atkinson and Daigneault would almost certainly be two of the frontrunners for Coach of the Year. Of course, we’re only about 40% through the 2024-25 regular season, and a lot could change between now and April.

Chris Finch (MIN), Taylor Jenkins (MEM) and Tyronn Lue (LAC) were the other nominees in the West, while Jamahl Mosley (ORL), Nick Nurse (PHI), Quin Snyder (ATL) and Tom Thibodeau (NYK) were nominated in the East.