Phoenix Suns' Monty Williams wins NBA Coach of the Year Award

May 9 (UPI) -- Monty Williams of the Phoenix Suns captured the Red Auerbach Trophy as the NBA Coach of the Year for the 2021-22 season, the league announced Monday.

Williams earned the award by a landslide, receiving 81 first-place votes and finishing with 458 overall points in balloting by a panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters. He received the honor a year after finishing second in 2020-21 Coach of the Year voting -- 11 points behind winner Tom Thibodeau of the New York Knicks.

Memphis Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins (17 first-place votes, 270 points) and Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat (one first-place vote, 72 points) finished second and third this year, respectively.

This marks Williams' first NBA Coach of the Year Award, and he joins Cotton Fitzsimmons (1988-89) and Mike D'Antoni (2004-05) as previous Suns coaches to earn the honor.

Under Williams, the Suns ended the regular season with a league-best 64-18 record and earned the top seed in the Western Conference playoffs. Along the way, Phoenix won a franchise-record 18 straight games and posted an unblemished 16-0 mark in November.

Last month, Williams was honored with the National Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year Award for the second consecutive season.

The 50-year-old Williams is in his third season as head coach of the Suns. He previously served as head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans for five seasons (2010-15). He has a career 322-299 record.