Laimbeer received the award at a Shock playoff game. Allen Einstein/WNBAE/Getty

Laimbeer, who is in his first full season as head coach of the Shock, received 45 of a possible 54 votes from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. Other coaches receiving votes were Minnesota's Suzie McConnell Serio (4), Houston's Van Chancellor (2), Sacramento's John Whisenant (2) and Los Angeles' Michael Cooper (1).

Detroit's worst-to-first turnaround was acheived only one other time in major professional sports history when the 1890 Louisville Colonels baseball team of the American Association accomplished the same feat.

Along the way, the Shock set Eastern Conference single-season records for winning percentage and wins, while becoming the first Eastern Conference team to earn home-court advantage throughout the playoffs since the Houston Comets boasted the WNBA's best record in 1997. Detroit's 16-win improvement from 2002 to 2003 also set a WNBA record.

The 54-member voting panel consisted of 12 national media representatives, as well as media representatives from each of the league's 14 markets who cover the WNBA regularly.