Cleveland's Kenny Atkinson wins NBCA coach of the year award after leading Cavs to 64-win season

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Cleveland's Kenny Atkinson wins NBCA coach of the year award after leading Cavs to 64-win season

2025-04-20 02:23 Last Updated At：02:31

Cleveland's Kenny Atkinson was announced Saturday as the winner of the National Basketball Coaches Association's coach of the year award, after leading the Cavaliers to a 64-win season and the No. 1 seed for the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The NBA will also give out a coach of the year award in the coming weeks. The NBCA has done its own separate award since 2017 named for Michael H. Goldberg, the organization's first executive director.

It is voted on by the league's 30 head coaches. The NBCA does not release voting totals, but revealed that four other coaches — Detroit's J.B. Bickerstaff, Oklahoma City's Mark Daigneault, Houston's Ime Udoka and former Denver coach Michael Malone also received votes. Malone was fired by the Nuggets with three games left in the regular season.

“Kenny Atkinson has long been respected by his peers as an innovative and humble servant to the game,” said Rick Carlisle, the coach of the Indiana Pacers and the NBCA's longtime president.

The Cavaliers had the second-best record in the league this season behind Oklahoma City, and became the second team in league history to have three separate winning streaks of at least 12 games.

“Coaching the game of basketball has been an amazing journey for me and my family, and to be recognized by my peers for a job well done this season is extremely humbling,” Atkinson said. “I’ve had the pleasure of coaching some amazing players over my career and I would not be in this position without their commitment and sacrifice for the greater good of themselves and the Cleveland Cavaliers.”

Daigneault won the award last season. Other winners include Mike Brown in 2023, Monty Williams in 2021 and 2022, Mike Budenholzer and Billy Donovan in 2020, Budenholzer in 2019, Dwane Casey in 2018 and Mike D'Antoni and Erik Spoelstra in 2017.

Atkinson and the Cavaliers take on Spoelstra and the Heat in an Eastern Conference first-round series that starts in Cleveland on Sunday.

The NBA will release its coach of the year finalists — along with finalists for six other major awards — on Sunday night.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA

Thousands of nurses go on strike at several major New York City hospitals

NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of nurses in three hospital systems in New York City went on strike Monday after negotiations through the weekend failed to yield breakthroughs in their contract disputes.

The strike was taking place at The Mount Sinai Hospital and two of its satellite campuses, with picket lines forming. The other affected hospitals are NewYork-Presbyterian and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.

About 15,000 nurses are involved in the strike, according to New York State Nurses Association.

“After months of bargaining, management refused to make meaningful progress on core issues that nurses have been fighting for: safe staffing for patients, healthcare benefits for nurses, and workplace violence protections,” the union said in a statement issued Monday. “Management at the richest hospitals in New York City are threatening to discontinue or radically cut nurses’ health benefits.”

The strike, which comes during a severe flu season, could potentially force the hospitals to transfer patients, cancel procedures or divert ambulances. It could also put a strain on city hospitals not involved in the contract dispute, as patients avoid the medical centers hit by the strike.

The hospitals involved have been hiring temporary nurses to try and fill the labor gap during the walkout, and said in a statement during negotiations that they would “do whatever is necessary to minimize disruptions.” Montefiore posted a message assuring patients that appointments would be kept.

“NYSNA’s leaders continue to double down on their $3.6 billion in reckless demands, including nearly 40% wage increases, and their troubling proposals like demanding that a nurse not be terminated if found to be compromised by drugs or alcohol while on the job," Montefiore spokesperson Joe Solmonese said Monday after the strike had started. "We remain resolute in our commitment to providing safe and seamless care, regardless of how long the strike may last.”

New York-Presbyterian accused the union of staging a strike to “create disruption,” but said in a statement that it has taken steps to ensure patients receive the care they need.

"We’re ready to keep negotiating a fair and reasonable contract that reflects our respect for our nurses and the critical role they play, and also recognizes the challenging realities of today’s healthcare environment,” the statement said.

The work stoppage is occurring at multiple hospitals simultaneously, but each medical center is negotiating with the union independently. Several other hospitals across the city and in its suburbs reached deals in recent days to avert a possible strike.

The nurses’ demands vary by hospital, but the major issues include staffing levels and workplace safety. The union says hospitals have given nurses unmanageable workloads.

Nurses also want better security measures in the workplace, citing incidents like a an incident last week, when a man with a sharp object barricaded himself in a Brooklyn hospital room and was then killed by police.

The union also wants limitations on hospitals’ use of artificial intelligence.

The nonprofit hospitals involved in the negotiations say they’ve been working to improve staffing levels, but say the union’s demands overall are too costly.

Nurses voted to authorize the strike last month.

Both New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani had expressed concern about the possibility of the strike. As the strike deadline neared, Mamdani urged both sides to keep negotiating and reach a deal that “both honors our nurses and keeps our hospitals open.”

“Our nurses kept this city alive through its hardest moments. Their value is not negotiable,” Mamdani said.

State Attorney General Letitia James voiced similar support, saying "nurses put their lives on the line every day to keep New Yorkers healthy. They should never be forced to choose between their own safety, their patients’ well-being, and a fair contract.”

The last major nursing strike in the city was only three years ago, in 2023. That work stoppage, at Mount Sinai and Montefiore, was short, lasting three days. It resulted in a deal raising pay 19% over three years at those hospitals.

It also led to promised staffing improvements, though the union and hospitals now disagree about how much progress has been made, or whether the hospitals are retreating from staffing guarantees.