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Mike Thibault gets two votes for WNBA Coach of the Year

The Mystics, despite their troubles, still made the playoffs. And that could have been enough for him to get some votes this season.

By Albert Lee
Washington Mystics v Phoenix Mercury - Game One
Mike Thibault led the Washington Mystics to a surprising playoff berth in the 2020 WNBA season after missing multiple starters.
Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images

On Thursday, the WNBA announced that Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve won the league’s Coach of the Year Award. This is her third time winning the award, tied with Van Chancellor, who won his awards with the Houston Comets and Washington Mystics head coach Mike Thibault, who also won two of his awards with the Connecticut Sun.

Thibault also received two votes to win Coach of the Year, despite Washington having a 9-13 regular season and a first round exit in the 2020 WNBA Playoffs.

The main reasons why Thibault would have received consideration for the award is because of some key improvements from past bench players like Myisha Hines-Allen. And as a team, the Mystics also won four consecutive games to turn around what would have been a lost season to a playoff-bound one. After all, four key players, including Elena Delle Donne, Tina Charles, Natasha Cloud and Tina Charles missed the season due to personal or health-related reasons.

The 2020 WNBA season was rough for the 2019 champions. However, Thibault still managed his short-handed team through it all, and they did get the opportunity to play in the postseason. Washington’s season didn’t end the way we wanted it to, but I certainly hope that we all look back at this season as a bridge toward more championship contending Mystics teams in the near future.