The NBA has named Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat, Mike D'Antoni of the Houston Rockets, and Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs as the finalists for the Coach of the Year award, as announced on Inside the NBA on TNT.

Spoelstra seemed mired in a rebuilding season, losing the first 30 games of the team's 41, but his players responded, swinging back for a 30-11 run at the end of the season that left them a tiebreaker short of a playoff seed in the Eastern Conference.

D'Antoni, a former 2005 Coach of the Year with the Phoenix Suns, made the most of his first year as coach of the Rockets, maximizing the talent in shooting guard James Harden and turning him into an MVP candidate. Such tactic resulted in a 14-win improvement from last season's 41-41 record, jumping from the eighth place in the Western Conference to easily snatching third place this season, right behind the Spurs and the Golden State Warriors.

Popovich has been a finalist multiple times in his tenured career as a head coach in this league, winning it three times (2003, 2012, 2014). The often-sarcastic man at the helm has a method to his madness, and has had a surprisingly smooth sailing with this roster despite the retirement of franchise great Tim Duncan, whom he spent the majority of his career with.

“Pop” as most have called him during his career in San Antonio, led the Spurs to its fifth 60-win season under his 20-year tutelage, sitting only six wins behind the Warriors for second in the West. Once again, the Spurs are sitting as one of the best four teams in the league, facing an 0-2 deficit in their series against the reigning Western Conference champs.