Billy Donovan’s first regular season is over, and while his Oklahoma City team has been overshadowed by the outlandish seasons of Golden State and San Antonio, he has had a record-breaking year himself.
The Thunder earned the third seed in the Western Conference with a 55-win season, making Donovan the winningest rookie coach to come straight from college to the NBA in league history. He passed Butch van Breda Kolff, who won 52 games in the 1967-68 season with the Lakers after leaving Princeton.
His point guard has also had a record-setting year. Russell Westbrook tied Magic Johnson’s mark of 18 triple-doubles in a season on Monday night, which is a record for the most since the NBA/ABA merger.