Monty Williams has become one of the NBA’s top head coaches during his second chance in that seat.
In three seasons, he’s taken the Phoenix Suns from being the worst team in the NBA to one of the best.
The Suns have in turn rewarded Williams with a long-term contract extension, ESPN reported Saturday. The 2021-22 NBA Coach of the Year as voted by the media signed an original five-year deal with the Suns in May 2019.
Winning the National Basketball Coaches Association’s Coach of the Year award the last two seasons, Williams has compiled a 149-78 record in his three seasons in Phoenix.
MONTY WILLIAMS: Phoenix Suns’ Monty Williams wins NBA Coach of the Year award
DEANDRE AYTON: Suns match $133M max offer sheet from Indiana Pacers to keep star in Phoenix
May 12, 2022; Dallas, Texas; USA; Suns head coach Monty Williams reacts at the bench during game 6 of the second round of the Western Conference Playoffs.
The Suns reached the NBA Finals in Williams’ second year after going 51-21 in an NBA-shortened 72-game season and posted the league’s best record last season at 64-18.
The 64 victories is the most in franchise history in a regular season, but Phoenix fell to the fourth-seeded Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference semifinals, losing Game 7 by 33 points, 123-90.
Williams is 21-14 in the playoffs in Phoenix.
His first opportunity as an NBA head coach came in in 2010.
Williams posted a 173-221 record in five seasons in New Orleans, reaching the playoffs twice, but was fired after the 2014-15 season.
After working with the San Antonio Spurs and as an assistant in Oklahoma City and Philadelphia, Williams was back as a head coach in 2019. He replaced Igor Kokoskov, who won just 19 games in his first and only season as the Phoenix’s head coach in 2018-19.
General manager James Jones (left) introduces Monty Williams as the new head coach of the Phoenix Suns during a press conference on May 21, 2019 at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Ariz.
So, Williams took over a team that had its second-worst season in franchise history. He was an assistant in Philadelphia in 2018-19.
The Suns went 34-39 in Williams first season that was put on pause during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, but they went 8-0 in the Orlando Bubble.
Story continues
That unprecedented run became a springboard for what has happened since for Williams and the Suns.
Now the franchise is looking to keep him around long-term, hence the contract extension. No official announcement has been made by the Suns on the extension.
Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Report: Suns head coach Monty Williams receives contract extension
