Following a third consecutive playoff elimination at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Toronto Raptors fired head coach Dwane Casey last week.This came despite Casey leading the Raptors to their best season in franchise history as they won a record 59 games and secured the number one seed for the first time.Just days before his firing, the 61-year-old was named as the NBA Coaches Association's Coach of the Year.Five days after his dismissal, Casey has now been confirmed as a finalist for the NBA Coach of the Year award.He is on a three-man shortlist that also features Brad Stevens of the Boston Celtics and Utah Jazz's Quin Snyder.

After the league announced the nominees, the Raptors sent out a congratulatory tweet to Casey.

This would be a normal thing to do when your coach is recognised as one of the best in the league but it comes across as extremely awkward when he was actually fired five days earlier, which they seem to have forgotten.

Unsurprisingly, there were some great reactions on Twitter, largely in the form of memes that summed up the moment.

Of course, this could just have been the team's way of showing gratitude to their departed coach as he did give them their best ever campaign and turned them into one of the top teams in the east.

Casey spent seven years with the Raps and had a 320–238 record in that time and led the team to five straight playoff appearances.

His departure may have been slightly harsh but being swept for the second straight year by the Cavs was the final straw for him and president Masai Ujiri felt the need to make a change.

Ujiri described it as the hardest decision he's ever had to make which shows just how difficult it was to part ways with the experienced coach.

But having been honoured as the best coach in the league this year by his peers, he could be in the strange position of also receiving the prize from the media and somehow being out of a job.

With his recent track record, Casey surely won't be out of work for long and will be snapped up by another NBA team sooner rather than later.

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