Houston (USA), May 18 (EFE) .- The first prize awarded to the protagonists of the 2020-21 NBA regular season was won by Monty Williams, of the Phoenix Suns, who this Tuesday was chosen as the Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
The award is decided by vote by the 30 coaches of NBA teams and is named after the late NBCA CEO Michael Goldberg.
“I am delighted to receive the Michael H. Goldberg Coach of the Year award from the National Association of Basketball Coaches,” said Williams.
“I have the utmost respect and admiration for the coaches in this league, so being recognized by my teammates is an incredible honor. All coaches in our league sacrifice a lot to improve their teams and organizations, so this is incredibly humbling.” he added.
Under Williams’ leadership, the Suns became the surprise and revelation team of the season by concluding it with the second best record in the league (51-21), only surpassed by the Utah Jazz (52-20).
Williams, 49, led the Suns to their first Pacific Division title since 2007, and they became the fifth team in league history to improve their win total in 15 or more games in successive seasons.
Phoenix improved 17 games this season, which was reduced to 72 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Just two seasons ago, Williams, who previously coached the New Orleans Pelicans and later served as an assistant with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Philadelphia Sixers, took over a Suns team that had posted a losing 19-63 record.
The great success of Williams and the managers was to secure the signing of All-Star point guard Chris Paul, who along with Hispanic guard Devin Booker, have become the pillars of the team.
The Suns were one of four teams to rank in the top 10 in defense (sixth) and offense (seventh) this season.
Among those who also received votes were Scott Brooks (Washington), Michael Malone (Denver), Nate McMillan (Atlanta), Doc Rivers (Philadelphia), Quin Snyder (Utah) and Tom Thibodeau (New York Knicks).
(c) EFE Agency