Selfless and starless. These were the staples of the exhilarating Denver Nuggets' NBA franchise-record 57-win regular season.

George Karl kept with that theme on Wednesday, sharing the credit far and wide after being named the league's Coach of the Year for the first time in his quarter century as an NBA head coach.

Karl thanked everyone from his middle school coach who got him into the game to his good friend, the late Rick Majerus, in an emotional news conference at the Pepsi Center.