(Los Angeles) Mike Brown, who led Sacramento to the playoffs for the first time since 2006, has been unanimously named the best coach in the North American Basketball League (NBA), the NBA announced Thursday.

Brown, 53, received the maximum possible votes from the panel of industry journalists who all put him in first place (500 points), ahead of Mark Daigneault (Oklhoma City, 164 points) and Joe Mazzulla (Boston, 77 points).

This is the second time that Brown, who succeeds Monty Williams (Phoenix), has received this distinction after 2009 when he was at the head of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Brown, who also coached the Los Angeles Lakers (2011-12), was named manager of the Kings in May 2022 after spending six seasons as Steve Kerr’s assistant at Golden State.

Under his leadership, Sacramento, which leads Golden State 2-0 in the first round of the playoffs, finished the regular season with 48 wins and 32 losses, an improvement of 18 wins over the previous season.