Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook will hear a familiar voice barking out instructions during the All-Star Game later this month in Orlando. Their coach, Scott Brooks, has the honors for the Western Conference.
"To make an All-Star team, it's a celebration of everybody in the organization," Brooks said. "You don't get it by yourself. You need everybody on this team to help you have success. That's what teams are about. That's what we're about. That's what we're building."
With Oklahoma City's 101-87 win over the Utah Jazz on Friday, the Thunder clinched the best record in the conference through games played Feb. 15.
This season, Brooks and the Oklahoma City staff have guided the Thunder to multiple winning streaks including an NBA season-high tying seven games, five games and four games.
He earned Western Conference Coach of the Month honors for games played in December/January. The Thunder has won a conference best 12 games on the road this season.
In his fourth season as coach, Brooks has a career mark of 149-112 after Tuesday's 111-85 romp over Utah. In his first full season as head coach, Brooks was named 2009-10 NBA Coach of the year after guiding the Thunder to a 50-32 and the franchise's first playoff appearance in Oklahoma City.
Brooks has been instrumental in developing Oklahoma City's two All-Stars and the rest of the team.
"Guys are getting better," Brooks said. "As a coaching staff you want to improve your players, you want to make your players better every day. I think we've done a good job with that. Not just the coaching staff, but the training staff and everybody in our organization believes in development."
Oklahoma City (22-6) travels to Houston for a Wednesday night completion of a back-to-back.
