Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault picked up his 100th career win in fashion after an overtime thriller against the Golden State Warriors on Friday.
Amid his fourth season under the helm, Daigneault has helped lead OKC to its best start under him with a 14-7 record. The 38-year-old — just like his players — has developed into one of the best coaches in the league, finishing No. 2 in Coach of the Year last season.
After totaling just 46 wins in his first two seasons, Daigneault has won 54 games over these last two seasons as the Thunder are in the infancy stages of a contending window.
While his career win-loss record isn’t pretty — 100-157 for a .389 win percentage — surely that’ll turn around here 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
