{"id":609014,"date":"2026-04-15T18:34:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T18:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/609014\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T18:34:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T18:34:10","slug":"pistons-coach-j-b-bickerstaff-wins-pbwas-rudy-tomjanovich-award-for-2025-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/609014\/","title":{"rendered":"Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff wins PBWA&#8217;s Rudy Tomjanovich Award for 2025-26"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2162778\" class=\"size-large wp-image-2162778\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2265867574-scaled-e1776277638693-1568x881.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1568\" height=\"881\"  \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-2162778\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">J.B. Bickerstaff led the Pistons to an East-best record of 60-22 during the 2025-26 regular season.<\/p>\n<p>J.B. Bickerstaff of the Detroit Pistons has won the 2026-26 Rudy Tomjanovich Award, which honors an NBA coach for his cooperation with the media and fans, as well as his excellence on the court, the Professional Basketball Writers Association announced today.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The PBWA is pleased to announce that Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff has won the Rudy Tomjanovich Award for the 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n<p>Press release: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/e3iDFFifyl\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/t.co\/e3iDFFifyl<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/UFApjiwFjL\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/UFApjiwFjL<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 The PBWA (@ProHoopsWriters) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ProHoopsWriters\/status\/2044475847252578496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">April 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>This\u00a0season,\u00a0Bickerstaff\u00a0guided\u00a0the\u00a0Pistons\u00a0to\u00a0a\u00a060-22\u00a0record,\u00a0tops\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0Eastern\u00a0Conference, and was consistently thoughtful and engaging with the media, and generous with his time. A finalist\u00a0in\u00a02025,\u00a0this\u00a0is Bickerstaff\u2019s\u00a0first\u00a0time\u00a0winning\u00a0the\u00a0award.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJ.B.\u00a0has\u00a0been\u00a0a\u00a0joy\u00a0to\u00a0work\u00a0with\u00a0throughout\u00a0his\u00a0years\u00a0as\u00a0an\u00a0assistant\u00a0and\u00a0head\u00a0coach\u00a0in\u00a0this league,\u201d said PBWA president Howard Beck. \u201cOur members truly appreciate his candor and his willingness to\u00a0discuss any issues that arise on or off the court. Win\u00a0or lose, he always handles his interviews\u00a0with\u00a0grace and\u00a0provides\u00a0the\u00a0kind\u00a0of\u00a0thoughtful\u00a0insight\u00a0that\u00a0helps\u00a0us\u00a0all\u00a0understand the game better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Chris Finch of the Minnesota Timberwolves finished second in the balloting, for the second straight year. The other finalists, based on nominations from PBWA members, were Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors, Billy Donovan of the Chicago Bulls and Jamahl Mosley of the Orlando Magic. A vote of the full PBWA membership determined the winner.<\/p>\n<p>The award is named for Hall of Famer Rudy Tomjanovich, the former coach of the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers, who was consistently professional and respectful while dealing with the media. During his 13 seasons as an NBA head coach, Tomjanovich compiled a 527-416 regular-season record and a 51-39postseason record. His Rockets won back-to-back NBA titles in 1994 and 1995.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0PBWA\u00a0annually\u00a0honors\u00a0a\u00a0PR\u00a0staff\u00a0(Brian\u00a0McIntyre\u00a0Award),\u00a0coach\u00a0(Rudy\u00a0Tomjanovich\u00a0Award) and\u00a0star player (Magic\u00a0Johnson\u00a0Award) who\u00a0go\u00a0above and\u00a0beyond\u00a0to\u00a0work with\u00a0the\u00a0media and help\u00a0inform\u00a0fans.\u00a0Under\u00a0the PBWA\u2019s\u00a0current\u00a0rules,\u00a0adopted\u00a0in\u00a02020,\u00a0no\u00a0team\u00a0or\u00a0individual\u00a0can win\u00a0in\u00a0consecutive\u00a0years.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0Pistons\u00a0PR\u00a0staff\u00a0was\u00a0announced\u00a0as\u00a0this\u00a0season\u2019s\u00a0winner\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0Brian\u00a0McIntyre\u00a0Award\u00a0on Tuesday.\u00a0The\u00a0Magic\u00a0Johnson\u00a0Award\u00a0winner\u00a0will\u00a0be\u00a0named\u00a0on\u00a0Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>The PBWA is\u00a0composed of more than 200 writers and editors who cover the NBA on a regular basis\u00a0for newspapers,\u00a0online\u00a0news\u00a0outlets\u00a0and\u00a0magazines.<\/p>\n<p>Rudy\u00a0Tomjanovich\u00a0Award\u00a0winners<\/p>\n<p>2010-11, Jerry Sloan, Utah Jazz<br \/>\n2011-12, Doc Rivers, Boston Celtics<br \/>\n2012-13, George Karl, Denver Nuggets<br \/>\n2013-14, Frank Vogel, Indiana Pacers<br \/>\n2014-15, Steve Kerr, Golden State Warriors<br \/>\n2015-16, Dwane Casey, Toronto Raptors<br \/>\n2016-17, Stan Van Gundy, Detroit Pistons<br \/>\n2017-18, Steve Kerr, Golden State Warriors<br \/>\n2018-19, Doc Rivers, Los Angeles Clippers<br \/>\n2019-20, Nick Nurse, Toronto Raptors<br \/>\n2020-21, n\/a (pandemic)<br \/>\n2021-22, n\/a (pandemic)<br \/>\n2022-23, Mike Brown, Sacramento Kings<br \/>\n2023-24, Steve Kerr, Golden State Warriors<br \/>\n2024-25, Kenny Atkinson, Cleveland Cavaliers<br \/>\n2025-26, J.B.\u00a0Bickerstaff,\u00a0Detroit\u00a0Pistons<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"J.B. Bickerstaff led the Pistons to an East-best record of 60-22 during the 2025-26 regular season. J.B. Bickerstaff&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":609015,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,210279,590,296054,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-609014","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-j-b-bickerstaff","11":"tag-nba","12":"tag-pbwa-rudy-tomjanovich-award","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=609014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}