This season, the Phoenix Suns gave the voters very little choice: Monty Williams thoroughly earned his first NBA Coach of the Year award, announced on May 9, 2022.
During a shortened 2020–21 NBA season, the Suns finished with the league’s second-best record. Williams was voted the runner-up, behind only Tom Thibodeau of the New York Knicks.
The voters’ ballots, of course, were submitted before the Suns made their dramatic run to the NBA Finals.
Fast forward one year, and today, after having proved last season was far from a fluke, Williams stands alone as the most deserving candidate for the 2021–22 NBA Coach of the Year honor.