Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault picked up his 100th career win in style: an overtime thriller against the Golden State Warriors on Friday.
In his fourth season, Daigneault has led OKC to its best start of his tenure (14-7). The 38-year-old has developed into one of the best coaches in the league; he finished second in Coach of the Year voting last season.
After totaling 46 wins in his first two seasons, Daigneault has won 54 games over the past two seasons as the Thunder are in the early stages of a contending window.
His career win-loss record isn’t pretty: 100-157 for a .389 win percentage. However, that’ll turn around over the next couple of seasons if the Thunder continue to play and develop at the rate they’ve shown.
After the win, Daigneault spoke with gratitude for his 100th career win, saying he’s always appreciative of being the Thunder head coach.
“It’s the same as the rest of them but all I’ll say is I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work here. I don’t take that for granted,” Daigneault said. “I don’t take (Clay) Bennett for granted. I don’t take our entire building for granted.”
Daigneault continued: “Sam (Presti) has obviously given me this opportunity but I work with great people and I love working with our players.
“Anything that pulls me out of the game-to-game moment of the season, I usually just try to tap into the gratitude of that and I’m incredibly grateful to be coaching here and to have been coaching here.”
Milestone night for Coach Daigneault @okcthunder | #ThunderUp | @BallySports pic.twitter.com/EwjgBFsP5f
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) December 9, 2023
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