QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 22, 2014 -> 12:50 PM)
IMO, Pop is at the point now where he's also almost getting COY awards by default. Unless there's someone else who clearly carries a team, his team will be at the top of the conference, a finals contender, and everyone will credit him.
I agree that there's a very strong case to be made for Thibs, but the case is just about equally strong for Popp, and guess which guy has 4 rings?
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA_Coach_of_the_Year_Award
Looking at this list it doesn't seem like rings have anything to do with it, only yearly results. But you can keep throwing the ring part in