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Monty Williams of the Phoenix Suns is reportedly the winner of the NBA Coach of the Year Award for the 2021-22
season, per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium.
The Memphis Grizzlies’ Taylor Jenkins and Miami Heat’s Erik Spoelstra were the award’s other finalists.
It was a crowded race for much of
the campaign, with the Boston Celtics’ Ime Udoka and Cleveland
Cavaliers’ J.B. Bickerstaff among the other coaches who emerged as strong candidates before the finalists were announced last week.
Williams is a first-time winner of the honor. Don Nelson, Gregg Popovich and Pat Riley hold the record with three Coach of the Year Awards each.
The Suns entered the season among the top title contenders after reaching the 2021 NBA
Finals. While the Coach of the Year is typically geared toward coaches who get their
teams to exceed expectations, their level of dominance kept
Williams at the forefront of the discussion.
Phoenix posted a 64-18 record during
the regular season, which was eight games better than its closest
competition (Grizzlies, 56-26). It posted identical 32-9 marks at home and on the road.
Several of his players strongly
endorsed his candidacy in late March.
“It shouldn’t even be close,”
point guard Chris Paul told reporters. “No disrespect to all
those other coaches and what they’re doing, but what are you watching
if this man doesn’t get Coach of the Year?”
Center Deandre Ayton added: “I’m
going to Mars if he don’t get it. If he don’t get it, you will see
Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton headed to Mars ’cause Monty didn’t.”
The Suns have proceeded to the second round, though only regular-season results are considered in
the award’s voting.
Williams previously received the
National Basketball Coaches Association’s Coach of the Year Award for
the second straight season, which is voted on by his fellow coaches.
“The coaches in our league sacrifice
so much to serve their teams, and there are so many outstanding
coaches deserving of this honor,” he said. “It is incredibly
humbling to again receive this recognition from this group, for whom
I hold the utmost respect.”
Williams spent 10 years in the NBA as a
player before the switch to coaching in 2005. The 50-year-old has led the Phoenix
staff since 2019.
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