NEW YORK – Chicago’s Tom Thibodeau is the recipient of the Red Auerbach Trophy as the 2010-11 NBA Coach of the Year, the NBA announced today.

Thibodeau totaled 475 points, including 76 first-place votes, from a panel of 119 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Coaches were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.

In his first season as a head coach, Thibodeau guided Chicago to a league-best 62-20 (.756) record, the most wins for a Chicago team since the 1997-98 Bulls also won 62. The 62 wins represented a 21-game improvement from the Bulls’ 41-41 campaign in 2009-10, marking the third-best single-season turnaround in franchise history. Chicago was one of two teams, along with Boston, in the NBA this year that did not lose more than two games in a row.

With Thibodeau at the helm, the Bulls’ defense held teams to 91.3 ppg, ranking second in that category to the Celtics (91.1 ppg). Chicago held opponents under their scoring average 59 times, going 52-7 in those games; and it held the opposition to 85 or fewer points an NBA-best 29 times (27-2).

Thibodeau was named NBA Coach of the Month three times in 2010-11 (January, March and April). He guided Chicago to an 8-0 mark in April as Bulls clinched the homecourt advantage throughout the postseason and finished the regular season on a nine-game winning streak. He won the award for March after the Bulls went a league-best 13-3 and in the process surpassed Boston and Miami atop the Eastern Conference standings; they also clinched their first division title since 1997-98. He earned his first Coach of the Month honor in January, as he coached the Bulls to a 12-4 record, becoming the first Bulls head coach to earn the recognition since Scott Skiles in April 2006.

With 62 wins in his rookie campaign, Thibodeau joined Paul Westphal (62 in 1992-93) and Bill Russell (60 in 1966-67) as the only head coaches in NBA history who won 60 or more games in their first year as a head coach. Thibodeau is only the third rookie head coach to enter the postseason as the No. 1 seed, joining Westphal and Jerry West (Los Angeles, 1976-77).

Before joining the Bulls organization, Thibodeau served the previous three seasons as the Associate Head Coach of the Celtics, helping guide the team to Finals appearances and the 2008 NBA championship.

The Coach of the Year Award is named after legendary coach and Hall of Famer Red Auerbach who guided the Celtics to nine NBA Championships. In 1996, Auerbach was honored as one of the Top 10 Coaches in NBA History as the NBA celebrated its 50th anniversary.

Following are the balloting results for the 2010-11 NBA Coach of the Year award and the all-time list of winners:

2010-11 NBA COACH OF THE YEAR RESULTS

Coach, Team                                       1^st                             2^nd                3^rd                  Pts

Tom Thibodeau, Chicago                     76                 29                 8                   475

Doug Collins, Philadelphia                    18                 31                 27                 210

Gregg Popovich, San Antonio               11                 31                 29                 177

George Karl, Denver                             12                 18                 25                 139

Nate McMillan, Portland                       1                   5                   8                   28

Lionel Hollins, Memphis                       —                   4                   7                   19

Monty Williams, New Orleans              —                   —                   10                 10

Erik Spoelstra, Miami                           1                   —                   1                   6

Phil Jackson, LA Lakers                        —                   1                   —                   3

Rick Carlisle, Dallas                              —                   —                   2                   2

Doc Rivers, Boston                               —                   —                   1                   1

Frank Vogel, Indiana                            —                   —                   1                   1

ALL-TIME NBA COACH OF THE YEAR WINNERS

1962-63 – Harry Gallatin, St. Louis
1963-64 – Alex Hannum, San Francisco
1964-65 – Red Auerbach, Boston
1965-66 – Dolph Schayes, Philadelphia
1966-67 – Johnny Kerr, Chicago
1967-68 – Richie Guerin, St. Louis
1968-69 – Gene Shue, Baltimore
1969-70 – Red Holzman, New York
1970-71 – Dick Motta, Chicago
1971-72 – Bill Sharman, Los Angeles
1972-73 – Tom Heinsohn, Boston
1973-74 – Ray Scott, Detroit
1974-75 – Phil Johnson, Kansas City-Omaha
1975-76 – Bill Fitch, Cleveland
1976-77 – Tom Nissalke, Houston
1977-78 – Hubie Brown, Atlanta
1978-79 – Cotton Fitzsimmons, Kansas City
1979-80 – Bill Fitch, Boston
1980-81 – Jack McKinney, Indiana
1981-82 – Gene Shue, Washington
1982-83 – Don Nelson, Milwaukee
1983-84 – Frank Layden, Utah
1984-85 – Don Nelson, Milwaukee
1985-86 – Mike Fratello, Atlanta
1986-87 – Mike Schuler, Portland
1987-88 – Doug Moe, Denver
1988-89 – Cotton Fitzsimmons, Phoenix
1989-90 – Pat Riley, LA Lakers
1990-91 – Don Chaney, Houston
1991-92 – Don Nelson, Golden State
1992-93 – Pat Riley, New York
1993-94 – Lenny Wilkens, Atlanta
1994-95 – Del Harris, Los Angeles Lakers
1995-96 – Phil Jackson, Chicago
1996-97 – Pat Riley, Miami
1997-98 – Larry Bird, Indiana
1998-99 – Mike Dunleavy, Portland
1999-00 – Doc Rivers, Orlando
2000-01 – Larry Brown, Philadelphia
2001-02 – Rick Carlisle, Detroit
2002-03 – Gregg Popovich, San Antonio
2003-04 – Hubie Brown, Memphis
2004-05 – Mike D’Antoni, Phoenix
2005-06 – Avery Johnson, Dallas
2006-07 – Sam Mitchell, Toronto
2007-08 – Byron Scott, New Orleans
2008-09 – Mike Brown, Cleveland
2009-10 – Scott Brooks, Oklahoma City
2010-11 – Tom Thibodeau, Chicago