On March 19, 2005, Don Nelson resigned as head coach of the Mavericks and Avery Johnson was named the eighth coach in the history of the franchise. Johnson finished the season with a 16-2 mark and was named Western Conference Coach of the Month for April after guiding the Mavericks to their highest win total for that month in team history (10-1 mark).

He was also named Western Conference Coach of the Month in November of 2005, becoming the first coach in league history to win the award in his first two full months of coaching. Johnson picked up the award again in January 2006 and was later named NBA Coach of the Year for 2005-06.

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