Monty Williams has been crowned NBA Coach of the Year after leading the Phoenix Suns to the best record.
The NBA announced Monday that Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams has received the Red Auerbach Trophy as NBA Coach of the Year.
Williams won by a landslide, receiving 81 first-place votes and a total of 458 points from a panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters.
Taylor Jenkins of the Memphis Grizzlies (17 first-place votes, 270 points) and Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat (1, 72) finished second and third, respectively.
This is Williams' first NBA Coach of the Year Award, joining Cotton Fitzsimmons (1988-89) and Mike D'Antoni (2004-05) as Phoenix head coaches to receive the honour.
Williams finished second in voting a year ago, only 11 points behind winner Tom Thibodeau of the New York Knicks.
The Suns concluded the regular season with an NBA-best 64-18 record and the first seed in the Western Conference playoffs under Williams.
they won a franchise-record 18 straight games and went 16-0 in November, tying for the second-most wins in a month without a defeat in nba history (the Atlanta Hawks went 17-0 in January 2015).
"If there's one award that exemplifies team, it's the Coach of the Year award because there's not a coach in the NBA that has bad intentions for the program or for the players," Williams told.
"Nobody walks into the gym and hopes that their guys play poorly and tells them not to work and, 'Please, don't play defense.' We don't do that. In order to get an award like this, it takes a lot of people."
From owner Robert Sarver and general manager James Jones to team security and the flight attendants who handle Phoenix's road trips, Williams made sure to thank everyone.