Four of the six major NBA awards have already been officially handed out, with Scottie Barnes winning Rookie of the Year, Ja Morant winning Most Improved Player, Tyler Herro winning Sixth Man of the Year, and Marcus Smart earning Defensive Player of the Year, leaving just MVP and Coach of the Year to go.
While those will not be officially announced until later this month, Monday brought word of the winners of both of those awards. Early in the morning, word broke that Nikola Jokic was taking home back-to-back MVP awards, edging out Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo, while in the afternoon Shams Charania of The Athletic reported Suns coach Monty Williams would be named Coach of the Year.
Phoenix Suns head coach Monty Williams has won the 2021-22 NBA Coach of the Year award, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Williams led the franchise to an NBA-best 64-18 record this season.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 9, 2022
The news was quickly confirmed by Devin Booker, who says an announcement will come officially on Monday.
Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams has been voted the NBA’s COY, book tells sources. A formal announcement is expected later today.
— Book (@DevinBook) May 9, 2022
Williams had already earned Coach of the Year honors from his fellow coaches and will now add the league’s award, as voted on by the media, to his mantle. The Suns had the best record in the NBA this season, a year after winning the Western Conference and reaching the NBA Finals. Williams beat out Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra and Memphis’ Taylor Jenkins for the honor.
Source: https://uproxx.com/dimemag/monty-williams-nba-coach-year-award-suns/
