Bill Laimbeer, who went from being fired last fall to leading the New York Liberty to the best record in the WNBA for the first time in franchise history, was named the WNBA's coach of the year Thursday.
Laimbeer won the award for the second time in his career, also winning it in 2003, when he was coaching Detroit.
He is the fourth coach to win the award at least twice. Van Chancellor won it in the league's first three years. Mike Thibault also has won it three times, and Dan Hughes won it twice.
Laimbeer received 23 votes. Indiana's Stephanie White finished second with seven votes, and Tulsa's Fred Williams was third with six.
Laimbeer has won three WNBA titles as head coach, with the Detroit Shock in 2003, 2006 and 2008. And he will go for another in 2015 as the Liberty turned out to be the surprise of the WNBA season.
On the face, this didn't seem like the most likely year for Laimbeer and the Liberty to find their groove.
Laimbeer was fired as the Liberty's head coach by owner James Dolan last October after going 25-42 in the previous two seasons and missing the playoffs both seasons.
But then, in an about-face, he was rehired in January.
He helped the team and his players weather the controversy that exploded when Isiah Thomas, his former Detroit Pistons teammate, was named the Liberty team president.
Thomas was the subject of a sexual harassment lawsuit as president and coach of the New York Knicks back in 2007.
Laimbeer also helped the Liberty to a stellar WNBA draft, going from having no first-round picks to making deals that allowed New York to acquire Cal standout Brittany Boyd and Connecticut's Kiah Stokes in the first round. Both played major roles for his team in their debut seasons.
The Liberty posted a record of 23-11 and, not surprisingly, played the best defense of any team in the league.
Laimbeer's coaching record is 185-145 in the WNBA and 27-16 in the playoffs heading into Friday's playoff opener against Washington.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.