Since hiring J.B. Bickerstaff, the Detroit Pistons have undergone one of the most rapid two-year improvements in NBA history. Bickerstaff was recognized for leading the Eastern Conference's best team this past season Tuesday, May 26.
Visit sportbet.rodeo for more information.
Still, Bickerstaff missed out on NBA Coach of the Year, the league announced. Bickerstaff, in his third season in Detroit, finished behind Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla. That was despite the Pistons winning 60 games in 2025-26, clinching the No. 1 seed in the East and the third-best record in franchise history.
It's a split of the major coaching awards for Bickerstaff, who was named Coach of the Year by the National Basketball Coaches Association in April. He finished second in the NBA's Coach of the Year voting in 2024-25, after leading the Pistons to 44 wins – a 30-win improvement compared to the season prior to his hiring.
In total, the two seasons under Bickerstaff have featured a 46-win improvement, following a 14-win season in 2023-24 that was their worst in franchise history. The Pistons are just the second team in NBA history to go from 60 losses to 60 wins in just two seasons. (The other: The San Antonio Spurs, who did so this year after drafting Victor Wembanyama No. 1 overall in 2023.)
Bickerstaff was a finalist along with Spurs coach Mitch Johnson and Mazzulla – whose squad earned the No. 2 seed in the East despite missing Jayson Tatum for much of the season.
This has been a rich awards season for the Pistons. Cade Cunningham became the seventh player in franchise history to earn All-NBA first-team honors on Sunday, and he was joined by Jalen Duren (third team), making them the Pistons' first All-NBA duo since Ben Wallace and Chauncey Billups in 2005-06. Ausar Thompson became their first player to make All-Defense since Tayshaun Prince in 2007-08 last Friday and is their first to make the first team since Wallace in 2005-06.
[ MUST WATCH: Make "The Pistons Pulse" your go-to Pistons podcast, listen available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) or watch live on YouTube. ]
Contact Omari Sankofa II at [email protected]. Follow him on X and/or Bluesky.
This story will be updated.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: J.B. Bickerstaff snubbed for NBA Coach of the Year Award