Monty Williams: Phoenix Suns head coach wins NBA Coach of the Year
Monty Williams received 81 of a possible 100 first-place votes and 458 total points from the voting panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. Memphis Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins came in second with 270 points and 17 first-place votes
Tuesday 10 May 2022 08:26, UK
Monty Williams was named the 2021-22 NBA Coach of the Year on Monday after leading the Phoenix Suns to a league-best 64-18 record.
Williams received 81 of a possible 100 first-place votes and 458 total points from the voting panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. Memphis Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins came in second with 270 points and 17 first-place votes.
Erik Spoelstra of the Miami finished third in voting with 72 points and one first-place nod.
The only other first-place vote went to Boston Celtics first-year coach Ime Udoka. He finished fourth in voting.
Williams, 50, was runner-up to the New York Knicks' Tom Thibodeau in last season's voting.
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Phoenix earned the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and broke the franchise record for wins, shared by the 1992-93 and 2004-05 squads at 62-20.
The Suns are currently tied at 2-2 in their conference semifinal series with the Dallas Mavericks. Game 5 is Tuesday night in Phoenix.
Williams, who led the Suns to the 2021 NBA Finals, is 149-78 through three seasons with Phoenix. He is 322-299 overall, including five seasons with the New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans from 2010-15.
Williams is the third Phoenix coach to win the award, joining Cotton Fitzsimmons (1988-89) and Mike D'Antoni (2004-05).
Jokic wins NBA MVP for second successive season
Nikola Jokic has won the MVP award for the second successive season, according to widespread reports, with a formal coronation expected at some point this week.
Jokic, who is spending time back in his homeland Serbia, is also understood to have heard the news on Monday prior to it being formally reported by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Once formally confirmed by the NBA, it will mean the Denver Nuggets center becomes just the 15th player to win the award more than once and the second consecutive European to win the award back-to-back after Giannis Antetokounmpo did in 2019 and 2020.
Milwaukee Bucks superstar and reigning NBA Finals MVP Antetokounmpo and NBA scoring champion Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers were the other two finalists for this year's award.
Jokic had a career year, as he averaged personal highs of 27.1 points and 13.8 rebounds per game. He also averaged 7.9 assists and became the first player in NBA history with 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 500 assists in a single season.
Mavs fan removed after incident with Chris Paul's family
The Dallas Mavericks said they are aware of an incident between a fan and the family of Chris Paul of the Phoenix Suns during Sunday's Western Conference semi-final round playoff game at American Airlines Center.
ESPN reported members of Paul's family had been harassed by fans and some in the crowd made physical contact with them.
"It was unacceptable behavior and will not be tolerated," the Mavericks said in a statement. "The Mavericks, along with American Airlines Center, swiftly removed the fan from today's game."
After the game, Paul tweeted: "Wanna fine players for saying stuff to the fans but the fans can put they hands on our families," He also added an expletive.
Immediately after the game, it was unclear what Paul was addressing when he sent the tweet about a player's family being accosted by fans. He was not asked about it by reporters after the game.
