Being named NBA Coach of the Year is an extremely prestigious achievement. Canadian and American sports writers vote to choose the winner. The honour is typically given to a coach who has improved a team beyond preseason projections. Some coaches can advance a lottery club to the postseason, while others are successful in turning playoff losers into champions.
Coach of the Year Award
The NBA Coach of the Year title went to Monty Williams of the Phoenix Suns, who had previously lost it to Tom Thibodeau of the New York Knicks. The NBA has named Monty Williams, the head coach of the Phoenix Suns, as the winner of the Red Auerbach Trophy for the 2021–22 season. Williams is the third Suns head coach to win the NBA Coach of the Year Award, following Cotton Fitzsimmons (1988–89) and Mike D’Antoni (2004–05).
Williams scored 458 points from a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters (81 first-place votes). Taylor Jenkins, the head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies, came in second with 270 points (17 first-place votes). Erik Spoelstra, the head coach of the Miami Heat, came in third with 72 points (one first-place vote). Coaches received five points for each vote in the top spot, three points for each vote in the second spot, and one point for each vote in the third spot.
Highest Winning Score
Williams led the Suns to the most victories and the highest winning percentage (.780) in a season in franchise history as they finished the regular season with an NBA-best 64-18 record. Phoenix had identical 32-9 records both at home and away. The Suns had the fifth-best road winning percentage (.780) and third-most road victories in a season in NBA history, all tied.
Between October 30 and December 2, 2021, Phoenix won 18 games in a row, a franchise record. The winning streak includes a 16-0 mark in November, which was second only to the Atlanta Hawks’ 17-0 mark in January 2015 in NBA history for the most victories in a month without a loss.
The Suns were the only club to place in the top five in all three categories, placing first in the NBA in net rating (+7.5), third in defensive rating (106.8), and fifth in offensive rating (114.2). The most such victories without a loss in a season during the shot clock era were 47-0 when they were in the lead after the third quarter (which began in the 1954–55 season).
Coach of the Month Award
Twice (in October/November and January), Williams received the NBA Western Conference Coach of the Month award. Additionally, he and his staff were selected to lead Team LeBron in the NBA All-Star Game in 2022.
Williams is in his third year leading the Suns. He led Phoenix to a 51-21 record and their first NBA Finals appearance since the 1992–93 campaign last year, placing second in the voting for the 2020–21 NBA Coach of the Year Award. Williams previously spent five seasons as the head coach of the New Orleans Hornets and Pelicans.
Along with the Red Auerbach Trophy, which he will receive later, Williams will also be given a unique 75th-anniversary commemorative trophy today in honour of winning the NBA Coach of the Year Award for 2021–22. The NBA 75 logo is suspended within the middle of the commemorative trophy, which is made of a solid crystal basketball and has been laser etched in three dimensions.
Red Auerbach, a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, is honoured by having his name on the NBA Coach of the Year trophy. The Boston Celtics won nine NBA championships under the famous head coach’s direction, including eight straight from 1958–1959 to 1965–1966.
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