Suns head coach Monty Williams is the National Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year. The honor is voted upon by all 30 of Williams coaching peers around the league.
Just two years after the Suns won only 19 games and finished dead last in the Western Conference, Williams has steered the ship in a completely different path. Phoenix sits at the No. 2 seed entering this year’s playoffs with a record of 51-21.
“I am overjoyed to receive the Michael H. Goldberg Coach of the Year Award from the National Basketball Coaches Association,” said Williams in a statement from the Suns. “I hold the utmost respect and admiration for the coaches in this league, so to be recognized by my peers is an incredible honor. Every coach in our league sacrifices a ton to make their teams and organizations better, so this is unbelievably humbling.”
As Brad Cesmat noted in his Three Dot Thoughts column just a couple weeks ago, this likely won’t be the last award that a member of the Suns enjoys, too. General Manager James Jones will be in the running for Executive of the Year, and Chris Paul will likely finish in the top-10 in MVP voting.
Aside from Williams, other finalists for NBCA Coach of the Year included Washington’s Scott Brooks, Denver’s Michael Malone, Atlanta’s Nate McMillan, Philadelphia’s Doc Rivers, Utah’s Quin Snyder and Tom Thibodeau of the Knicks.
The Suns first playoff game is this Sunday against an opponent that will be determined based on this week’s NBA Play-In games. The Lakers, Warriors, Grizzlies and Spurs are the four teams set to battle it out for the final two spots.
Andrew Bell
