Mike Budenholzer is the current head coach of the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA. In his first 2 seasons with the team, Mike has created an exciting new winning atmosphere in Atlanta likened to the days of Dominique Wilkins and Spud Webb. Before earning his first head coaching position with the Hawks, Sports Speaker Mike Budenholzer sharpened his basketball IQ under Gregg Popovich as a member of the Spurs impressive organization. Yet Mike is a great basketball mind in his own right having led the Hawks to an impressive 60-22 record in 2015. That same year he was awarded the Red Auerbach trophy as the NBA’s Coach of the Year.

Mike started his basketball career at Pomona College where he lettered in basketball and golf in all 2 years he attended. Additionally, Mike was named Outstanding Senior Athlete in 1993. Post-graduation, Mike played professionally in Denmark for the Vejle Basketball Klub while also getting his feet wet in the coaching profession. Mike became Head Coach of two different teams under the Vejle Basketball Klub.

In 1994, Mike was hired as a video coordinator for the San Antonio Spurs. He would spend the next 2 seasons as the team’s video coordinator until he was promoted to an assistant coach for the 1996-1997 season under legendary coach Gregg Popovich, who is currently the longest-tenured Head Coach in major professional sports. Mike would spend the next 17 seasons under Gregg Popovich as his number one assistant, helping lead the Spurs to an incredible 4 Championship titles over this span. Additionally, Mike would often spend his summers as the head coach of the Spurs summer league team.

When the Atlanta Hawks were left with a coaching vacancy in 2013, Mike was announced to take over as head coach for the 2013-2014 season. In his first year, Mike led the Hawks to the Eastern Conference Playoffs, an impressive accomplishment for a first-year coach. However, the Hawks would see a disappointing early first-round exit from the playoffs. In 2014-2015, Mike changed the philosophy of his basketball team; the style of basketball the Hawks played would mirror Gregg Popovich’s style employed by the Spurs. Constant ball-movement, cutting, and passing would construct the Hawks offense while gritty, team-oriented work would anchor the defense. This change brought unpredictable levels of success for both the Hawks and Mike, as Mike was awarded the NBA’s Coach of the Month award in January of 2015 for leading the Hawks to an unprecedented 17-0 record for the month.

Basketball, Sports, Sports Coaching