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LeBron James says Terry Stotts should have won Coach of the Year

LeBron James thinks that Terry Stotts deserved Coach of the Year honors.

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Awards season is wrapping up, and LeBron James has already made some waves with his comments on Steph Curry's unanimous MVP.

On Thursday, James discussed the heated race for Coach of the Year, and gave credit to recently-eliminated Blazers coach Terry Stottsper Chris Haynes.

I think Terry Stotts should have been or could have been Coach of the Year. I can't remember the last time that I've seen a team lose four starters and still be in the same position as far as the postseason success they had.

I mean they lost Batum, they lost Matthews, they lost Robin and they lost LaMarcus in the off-season and the only returning starter was Dame [Damian Lillard]."

Of course, Stotts did not win the award. Warriors coach Steve Kerr took home honors this season despite missing the first 43 games of the year recovering from back surgery.

However you react to this is likely based on how you feel about LeBron James.

On one hand, he didn't discredit Kerr at all, and this was a hilariously tight COY race. There were at least seven or eight coaches that you could make a very, very strong case for, and Stotts was among the more popular picks for the award.

If you're not his biggest fan, you'll note that he nitpicked a Warriors award-winner two days running (whether that's the case or not.)

All in all, it's fine. Terry Stotts was an incredible coach this year for a team that Vegas didn't expect to win 30 games. The Blazers fought hard every night, outperformed their talent, and that's worth commending, which is what LeBron is doing here.