The National Basketball Association has named Atlanta Hawks Coach Mike Budenholzer (right), a 1988 graduate of Holbrook High School, the NBA 2014-15 Coach of the Year. Budenholzer credits his father Vince, a basketball coach for many years at HHS, with teaching him how to be a successful coach. Presenting the award to Budenholzer is Hawks CEO Steven Koonin (left).
Holbrook native Mike Budenholzer, second year coach of the Atlanta Hawks, was named the National Basketball Coach of the Year Tuesday.
In a press conference called to celebrate the honor, Budenholzer noted, “As the son of a coach, it means a lot. I just want to thank you, Dad. He was a high school coach in Holbrook, Arizona, forever, winning a lot of games, winning a state championship with my brothers, giving me a love for the game. My dad, he taught me a lot about life and basketball…
“He wanted to press at every opportunity, and shared every thought and idea with me, and he wonders why we don’t press more in the NBA today.”
His parents, Libby and Vince, now reside in Queen Valley and Show Low.
Budenholzer received the good news from his mentor, San Antonio Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich, who received Coach of the Year honors last year.
He remembered Pop, too, in his acceptance speech. “It seems appropriate to finish with the real Coach of the Year, Gregg Popovich. This award has a permanent spot on his desk in San Antonio. He just shares it around every couple years and lets us take a picture of it. I might be able to sneak back into his office and put it back down. I was very, very fortunate to be so close to a coach who’s done so much for the league, done so much for so many coaches, and has shared so much with me. And I can’t even begin to articulate how thankful I am and all the things I’ve learned,” the protégé said.
Budenholzer got his start in Holbrook as a four-year starter for HHS. He was the team’s MVP in 1986 and 1988, and Holbrook’s all-time leading scorer for 19 years. He was a four-year letterman and two-year starter on the Pomona College basketball team in California and was named the Outstanding Senior Athlete in 1993.
He was a player/coach for a professional basketball team in Denmark for one year before being picked up by the Spurs in 1994 as a video coordinator. He held that position for two years before being named an assistant coach at the beginning of the 1996-97 season. Since the 2007-08 season, Budenholzer has been the Spurs’ number one assistant.
The Hawks have posted 60 wins this season, a franchise record, and finished first in the Eastern Conference. They beat the Brooklyn Nets 99-92 Sunday in the first game of a playoff series, and were slated to play game two Wednesday night.
