New Piston Dwane Casey wins NBA's coach of the year award for work with Raptors

Dwane Casey won the NBA's coach of the year award Monday for his work with the Toronto Raptors.

But he saved his greatest praise for his new employer, Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores.

Casey, 61, led the Raptors to a 59-23 record and earned the National Basketball Coaches Association's coach of the year award.

But after the top-seeded Raptors were swept out of the Eastern Conference playoffs by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers for the third straight season, Casey was fired.

In his acceptance speech, Casey admitted his confidence was shaken. But when Gores hired him a month later, Casey declared himself energized.

"When you get fired, which I did recently, I don't know if you knew that or not," Casey joked. "You always doubt yourself a little bit.

"You think 'Can I do this? Do I want to do this again?'

"Then I interviewed with Tom Gores, the owner of the Detroit Pistons. He and I connected and he's given me an opportunity that I'm very appreciative of for someone to believe in you. That's all you want as a player and also as a coach _ an owner who believes in you and trusts you with that."

Casey topped fellow finalists _ the Boston Celtics' Brad Stevens and the Utah Jazz's Quinn Snyder _ to win the media's annual honor, which was awarded in Santa Monica, Calif.

Casey molded the Raptors into an Eastern Conference power after taking over the franchise in 2011-12. He won four division titles, reached the playoffs the past five seasons and the 59 wins were a franchise record.

There was steady improvement with the Raptors, who hired Casey in 2011. He was 320-238 in seven seasons and is the franchise's winningest coach. His playoff record was 21-30.

Casey was seated at the Pistons table, between Gores and his wife, Brenda.

He first thanked the media and called Brenda the "head coach of the family."

He also thanked his former players _ particularly stars DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry.

"I'm so proud of what they accomplished," he said.

He thanked mentors like Joe B. Hall and Rick Carlisle.

And he thanked his former assistants.