Detroit Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff earned some new hardware on Friday
Two years ago, the Detroit Pistons experienced the dramatic lows of a 14-win season just before J.B. Bickerstaff arrived in Motown in an attempt to turn around a rich, storied franchise. Steadily yet expediently, Bickerstaff pushed the Pistons to a 44-38 record with a brief playoff berth last year, but the head coach’s imprint truly shined through during his second season with the franchise.
Over the past seven months, Bickerstaff has worked with both Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren to push the Pistons’ to the top of the Eastern Conference. That trio stuck together during the All-Star Game as three representatives of Detroit, and they’ve become integral pieces of the Pistons’ 60-win outfit.
But on Friday, it was Bickerstaff’s time to shine as the veteran head coach was named the 2026 NBCA Coach of the Year, which is an award voted on by other HCs throughout the league.
Bickerstaff set the Pistons on the right track early during the season when Detroit ripped off a 13-game winning streak during November. From there, the Pistons assumed the top spot in the East around the same time, and Bickerstaff joined both Cunningham and Duren at the mid-year All-Star Game– which they promptly won.
During the second half of the season, Bickerstaff helped his Motor City squad navigate a lengthy Isaiah Stewart suspension and an unpredictable injury to Cunningham before the playoffs, so the waters have been all but calm for the Pistons of late. But despite those challenges, Bickerstaff kept Detroit focused on their goal that still awaits in the playoffs.
Now, the NBCA Coach of the Year award is an honor that’s decided among the 30 head coaches across the league, so it’s a peer-reviewed distinction.
"I'm grateful to my coaching staff for all they do to help prepare our team for every practice and game," Bickerstaff said. "Tom Gores, Trajan Langdon and the basketball front office, and the Pistons organization have provided us with all the resources to go out and be successful. I'm thankful for their support and dedication to what we're building here in Detroit. I've been lucky to coach a special group of young men this season and seeing their individual and collective growth has been gratifying."
The official NBA Coach of the Year award, however, is decided by the media, and the winner has yet to be announced.
Last season, many viewed Bickerstaff as a favorite to win the officially-recognized coaching honor after tripling the Pistons’ win total in his first year with Detroit, but Kenny Atkinson from the Cleveland Cavaliers walked away with the hardware. Coincidentally enough, Bickerstaff parted ways with the Cavs in order to take his current post with the Pistons.
But in terms of this season, Bickerstaff is considered by many as a deserving candidate for the Coach of the Year award if not the favorite with steady competition coming from Joe Mazzulla from the Boston Celtics.
Entering the 2025-26 season, the Celtics were projected to miss the playoffs as a lottery-level team without Jayson Tatum, but Mazzulla kept Boston in contention all year long before finishing as the No. 2 seed. Both Mazzulla and Bickerstaff have compelling resumes in terms of the work they put on paper this year, and there’s a strong possibility that they’ll cross paths during the course of the postseason in a battle that would truly determine which coach has the upper hand.
On Wednesday night, the Celtics found out that they’ll be facing the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the playoffs, while the Pistons will learn their foe later tonight when the Orlando Magic and Charlotte Hornets duke it out to determine the final playoff squad in the Eastern Conference.
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