NBA World Reacts To Coach Of The Year News
NEW ORLEANS, LA - OCTOBER 30: Head coach Monty Williams of the New Orleans Pelicans reacts during the game against the Indiana Pacers at the New Orleans Arena on October 30, 2013 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
The NBA head coaches have spoken, reportedly voting Monty Williams of the Phoenix Suns as the National Basketball Coaches Association's Coach of the Year.
Williams won the award, named after late former NBCA Michael Goldberg, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. The honor is voted on by all 30 NBA head coaches.
Now, it must be noted: this is not the official NBA Coach of the Year Award voted on by writers and media members. We can't stress that enough.
But it is noteworthy that Williams was chosen by his peers, as opposed to Tom Thibodeau of the Knicks, Nate McMillan of the Hawks and Quin Snyder of the Jazz, among others.
In his second season in Phoenix, Williams led the Suns to a 51-21 record, a 17-win improvement on last season's mark. The Suns won their first Pacific Division title in 14 years and earned the No. 2 seed in the West.
If we had a media vote for the Coach of the Year Award, we'd probably cast it for Thibodeau, who has engineered a remarkable Cinderella season in New York. But Williams has had a strong campaign as well, so it's not surprising he's receiving his flowers.
With this honor behind him, Williams awaits the winner of tomorrow's Lakers-Warriors play-in game in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. That series will begin this weekend.
