Suns’ Monty Williams earns 2021-22 NBA Coach of the Year originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Monty Williams has been recognized for his work on the Phoenix Suns’ sideline.
Williams earned the 2021-22 NBA Coach of the Year Award on Monday, beating out fellow finalists Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat and Taylor Jenkins of the Memphis Grizzlies.
Here’s a full look at the voting results:
Devin Booker, one of Williams’ star players in Phoenix, had the scoop about Williams’ win earlier in the day:
This is Williams’ first time winning the award, though he nearly won it in 2020-21. He earned the most first-place votes in last year’s voting, but New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau edged Williams by 11 overall points.
Williams’ Suns wound up winning the Western Conference last season before falling to the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2021 NBA Finals. Phoenix followed that up by earning a franchise-record 64 wins and the No. 1 seed in the West in a dominant 2021-22 campaign.
Now, Williams has his sights set on more hardware. The Suns beat the No. 8 New Orleans Pelicans in the first round and were victorious in the first two games of their second-round series against the No. 4 Dallas Mavericks. Dallas bounced back to grab wins in Games 3 and 4 at home to knot the series at 2-2.
The Suns will host the Mavs in a crucial Game 5 at 10 p.m. ET on Tuesday.